This Past Weekend - Theo Von - #607 - Young Amish Male

Sept. 3, 2025 - This Past Weekend - Theo Von

01:34:53

#607 - Young Amish Male

Theo is joined by a young Amish man from Minnesota who is currently on Rumspringa. They talk about the Amish way of life, how the process of Rumspringa works, and some of the unique experiences he’s had dipping his toe out into the world. ------------------------------------------------ Tour Dates! https://theovon.com/tour New Merch: https://www.theovonstore.com ------------------------------------------------- Sponsored By: Celsius: Go to the Celsius Amazon store to check out all of their flavors. #CELSIUSBrandPartner #CELSIUSLiveFit https://amzn.to/3HbAtPJ Mando: Go to http://shopmando.com and use code THEO to get 20% off sitewide. ShipStation: Upgrade to ShipStation today to get a sixty-day free trial at https://www.shipstation.com/theo. Perplexity AI: Ask anything at https://pplx.ai/theo and download their new web browser Comet at https://comet.perplexity.ai/ ------------------------------------------------- Music: “Shine” by Bishop Gunn Bishop Gunn - Shine ------------------------------------------------ Submit your funny videos, TikToks, questions and topics you'd like to hear on the podcast to: tpwproducer@gmail.com Hit the Hotline: 985-664-9503 Video Hotline for Theo Upload here: https://www.theovon.com/fan-upload Send mail to: This Past Weekend 1906 Glen Echo Rd PO Box #159359 Nashville, TN 37215 ------------------------------------------------ Find Theo: Website: https://theovon.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/theovon Facebook: https://facebook.com/theovon Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thispastweekend Twitter: https://twitter.com/theovon YouTube: https://youtube.com/theovon Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheoVonClips Shorts Channel: https://bit.ly/3ClUj8z ------------------------------------------------ Producer: Zach https://www.instagram.com/zachdpowers Producer: Trevyn https://www.instagram.com/trevyn.s/ Producer: Andrew https://www.instagram.com/bleachmediaofficial/ Producer: Nick https://www.instagram.com/realnickdavis/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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	More.
	Today's guest is our young friend from Lanesborough, Minnesota.
	Uh he's Amish.
	He's an Amish.
	He's an Amish person.
	And he's on Rumspringer right now.
	And we're excited to learn about uh what it means to be Amish and what it's like and how things are going for him today.
	Today's guest is Amish, and his name is Timothy.
	All right, sitting here with an Amish dude, basically.
	Yeah.
	Um and you're a hundred percent Amish.
	100% Amish.
	Born and raised, I can I can speak Pennsylvania Dutch, still Amish and still still living at home.
	Pennsylvania Dutch, it's called Yeah, so Pennsylvania Dutch is like uh it's like a dialect of German, it's it's quite a bit of different from German, but it's a quite a bit of different from German, you said?
	Yeah, but it's like it's a dialect from it, and so if someone would be talking like like German, you can kinda understand them, but like most of the words you can.
	Okay.
	Yeah.
	So do people do like would do your parents speak German and Pennsylvania Dutch?
	No, just uh Pennsylvania Dutch and English.
	And would your grandparents possibly speak German or your great grandparents?
	No, they they were all Pennsylvania Dutch.
	So understood.
	But it's kind of a branch of it's a lot of the people there have German lineage.
	Yeah, they do.
	Like I think every every Amish is like Swiss German, because most of them came from that area.
	And funny thing is, in school, like on Fridays, we we learn like so that's basically the day where we where we read German spell church, and uh and also every morning in uh school we also sing like three hymns out of uh uh it'd be a little book with like red page just where we sing German hymns out of now the funny thing is like I can kind of read German and I can spell German, but I do not understand like like determining that I'm reading and spelling.
	Oh, I some of it I can, but most of it I can't.
	So you can comprehend a little bit, but you couldn't really then recite it.
	Yeah.
	Well, because sometimes for like Christmas and stuff, we had to uh like those there's also a green German book, which when you're lower greats, like fifths and under, you read out of that, where there's like big pair like bigger paragraphs in the back where it's all German and sometimes for like well,
	most every time actually for Christmas and stuff, we had to learn memorize all of those and I guess I was I wasn't the greatest because I uh I kinda I guess lost interest for it if I if I didn't understand it, I guess.
	Oh yeah.
	Yeah.
	Yeah, that's probably ADD or whatever.
	Do they have ADD in the Amish community?
	So uh I don't even what do you know what is ADD?
	I'm not even quite sure.
	Oh wow.
	A D D it's like let me think.
	Mmm.
	You ever have that feeling like when somebody's tickling you or whatever, kinda?
	Yeah.
	And you're like you just can't even handle it.
	Yeah.
	It's like that feeling, but it's like in your brain, kind of when you're trying to pay attention.
	So it's like you're you're paying attention doesn't work, you know?
	Oh.
	Uh no, I don't think I I don't think anyone has ADD that I know of.
	I hope not.
	Because that that wouldn't be too fun to have.
	Yeah, yeah.
	Oh yeah, I think it's like, yeah, you get to change your mind without even doing it, you know.
	So if you drive a car, if you have ADD, so can you focus on the road or you're like looking over to the ditch, and then this car and the guy in the pi like the passenger seat or I think it gets a little bit testy for some people, like it's too much, you know.
	Yeah, pull that up.
	Do the Amish have ADD?
	Pull that up.
	Let's get a gander at that.
	That's a great question.
	Yeah.
	I've never heard of ADD before.
	Then you must not have it, brother.
	Yeah.
	The Amish do experience ADD, but reported rates are noticeably lower than in the general population, and diagnosis practices may differ significantly due to cultural and lifestyle factors.
	Wow, that's pretty fascinating.
	Um you're born in Amish country, are you born at a hospital?
	Are you born at home?
	What's it like?
	So that varies a lot too.
	Over the last probably 15, 10, 15 years, a lot more have been born in a hospital.
	I know there's some people in our community, all of them were born at home, half of them were born at home, and then also some were born in a hospital.
	Now me and my all my brothers, we were all born in the hospital.
	So it all varies, varies from family to family most of the time.
	Um are you allowed to use like municipalities like a hospital and like a public park and those sorts of things?
	Like where does the line differ between if you're Amish and you just straight up supposed to be at the house, you know, like using chalk and just eating butter uh, you know, out of each other's hats.
	Yeah.
	And then the line where you're supposed to be able to like go to public parks and go to like non-Amish events and stuff.
	Oh, so like for like me going to your concert, like that would that would not be like that keep it keep that on the down low.
	But some Amish, I know some Amish like go to like deaf leopard concerts and when they're like around my age, you know, like eight eighties rock, the Amish, like Amish that like party and stuff, they they like 80s rock country, and then I don't not sure how you call it music, but it really bumps when you turn it all the way up.
	That 80s rock?
	No, it's like some I wonder if it's like it's like when it's like boom boom boom.
	Is it kind of darker artists?
	Do the dark do the artists you mean like like the suicide boys or suicide boys are gonna be.
	Well, not it's not the suicide boys, it's more like like David Ghetto, like uh I think I said David Guetta?
	Oh, I see what you're saying, oh like uh EDM house, that sort of stuff.
	I I don't never know knowing what you call it, but yeah, if you turn that stuff all the way up, it really shakes something like if you if you have like the big like stereo system in like a in like a building, that building starts shaking.
	Yeah.
	So that's pretty cool.
	And the Amish, they really feel that you can feel it really feel your barn raise when you hear that, huh?
	Oh yeah, but like w that stuff we only do in the weekends.
	That that stuff is kinda like nah.
	That's secret.
	Yeah.
	Hell yeah.
	So do the Amish listen to Morgan Wallen ever or no?
	Uh yeah, dude.
	I have a buddy, actually, my co-worker at least.
	He he lost Mark and Wallin, and he's he's in Rome Spring, too.
	So he he wants to go to his concert one time, so that that would be fun.
	You know, I thought your concert was pretty cool too.
	The music that they played in the beginning.
	Yeah.
	I've never really heard that music before, but it's like it was like I was jamming out to it, and it was really, really fun.
	Thank you, dude.
	Yeah, we play um a lot of times at our shows.
	There I am right there with your hat you brought to me that was in Seattle.
	Um in the beginning of the shows, we play a band, it's called New Orleans Jazz Vipers.
	Oh.
	And it's just like some good kind of jazz New Orleans music.
	I think it puts people in a mode of like they're gonna see you know, some type of artistic like brain space instead of just some like music you hear all the time, you know?
	Yeah.
	Yeah, it's like I was I was kinda surprised.
	Like, or not really surprised, but I never really I never really heard that music before.
	Yeah, it's great, man.
	That's a great band.
	I've I've uh I happened upon them in New Orleans a while back, and ever since then I've just enjoyed listening to them.
	Yeah, so that's their horns and stuff.
	Yeah.
	Wow.
	And that's that's what makes all the like the great sounds.
	Yeah, they do a great job.
	Do you guys have instruments um in uh in your Amish village?
	Is it called a village?
	So uh it'd be considered a district.
	A district would be like different parts of church, because there can be one big community, but there can be like four to twelve different districts of like the church where the rules are like a little bit different here and there, but like mostly be c be called a uh a community.
	A community.
	Yeah.
	So the areas you live in kind of delineates where you go to church at?
	Yeah, kinda.
	Or yeah, that's you go to any church, or if you live in a certain area, you kind of go to a certain church because it's close.
	So in the area, you always if Damish move somewhere, it's usually for a certain church in a certain area, and we don't have church like houses and stuff, like not like some I seen like really big churches.
	They were like they went almost like up to the sky and stuff.
	Yeah, they got some churches that are trying to do a lot.
	They're like, do you need all that?
	Yeah, like those things are really high.
	So all of our church happens at uh uh at our homes, like oh yeah.
	So like so we take turns taking church.
	So different weekends, different uh families will take church.
	Yeah, and another thing that Damish do is uh we have church every other weekend.
	So how it works is church here, and then that gives them enough time to you know move church to the next place, and you have to pick up all the books, pick up all the benches, and then move it over to your place.
	You also have to make all the food, and then people people come and help you.
	I see.
	So it's part of the culture, is like it's kind of exciting when you get to have church at your place because then everybody's coming there.
	Yeah, well, it it can be, but it also it's a bit of like oh man, church is at our place gotta get ready.
	Oh, we gotta clean up.
	Yeah, you gotta clean up, get ready, be on our best behavior.
	Yeah, trim the cat.
	Trim the cat.
	Well, our cats actually stay in the barn because Damish don't really have cats in in the house.
	Dude, our cats, they're like self-sufficient, they're kind of Amish too.
	But like we put dog food there.
	I think they they might they might sneak a little bit off that.
	I could see some of them sneaking a little.
	But sometimes I see cats coming up the pasture.
	They got like a chipmunk or a bird.
	I don't think they're I don't think they're big enough or fast enough to catch a squirrel.
	I am alarmed at uh how many not uh how many regular people what do you call regular people non-Amish?
	Or do you think that's so if we're if we're talking English, we call regular people uh English people.
	Okay.
	But if you're talking in Pennsylvania Dutch, if you want a literal transition translation of it, it's we call them HohiLet, which a literal translation is high people.
	But what it means, Hohi Let, what that means is like people that are allowed to get high.
	That are non-Amish.
	But we have like a neighbor, that guy's from uh like Australia, like I think it's called land down under stuff, like basically where all the kangaroos live.
	Oh yeah, there's kangaroos, sharks, there's definitely there's cr just people that'll drink beer.
	There's a couple of down syndrome guys down there who drink beer out of the oven.
	That's crazy.
	And I even saw some guys like they they drink they take off their shoe and they like pour like some stuff in their shoe and drink it right out of yeah.
	It must have special feet or something.
	Yeah, I think they must have uh look at these guys right here, and they're Australian.
	Oh, whoa, what are they doing?
	Look at this.
	He pulls a hot beer right out of the oven.
	Whoa, that's pretty cool.
	He starts chugging it at one point.
	He doesn't care.
	Oh, but these guys are Australian.
	Oh wow.
	So they're they're you know they're a bit shorter too.
	Yeah, a lot of rugby head to head.
	That'll keep your spine down.
	Yeah, especially if you're like I thought if you be upside down, like on the bottom side of the world, if you your spine would like go.
	Not these guys.
	Wow.
	I think they missed a uh they missed a column, dude.
	L5S none, dude.
	These guys missed something.
	Yeah, um like that.
	Um so non-Amish people you call them hul hull ho he led.
	Hohilers.
	Hohi led.
	Hohila.
	There you go.
	You're almost Amish now.
	Oh, welcome.
	Yeah, you're you're welcome.
	It's not offensive though.
	No, no, no, not at all.
	That's that's uh it's a it's not a like Amish don't see it as offensive.
	It's it's just uh a term to describe something like our horses you know some are standard bred you know and then some are brown some are black we even have some like like white horses with like black spots on them oh yeah we're getting a lot of that outside of Atlanta we get a lot of that yeah where's the land uh Atlanta have you heard of it oh Atlanta like torture yeah okay yeah I've heard of it I've never been there I I heard they like that's close to where like the Dukes of Hassard were made I think yeah yeah I think it is actually I love the Dukes of Hazard.
	I do too yeah I used to have a the DVD player I don't have it anymore I used to have a little D V D player really and then yeah I watched a little bit Dukes of Hazard.
	But the d the only bad part was the DVD player it was it's before I had a battery and stuff that I had to go charge it somewhere else and just before I had a bat like all prepared you know that way I don't run out of power I used to watch I watch them a lot because us Amish we have the ones that are in roomspringer we have like uh we have D V D's and stuff the my cowork Ratley he's he's pretty he's pretty stacked when it comes to DVDs because he's got like a drawer full of like all kinds of movies.
	Is he allowed to have it or not?
	Not really but like it's like I his parents I think they kinda know but they don't like they don't bother got it so but he had some different things he had duke's a hazard?
	Yeah well I don't know if he had Dukes of acid but he had like lots of different other different ones like smoking the bandit like Grumpy old man oh yeah Walter those are really funny and I think he has like he wants to get her like fast and furious too.
	Ooh he's trying to get wild huh yeah like he's pretty crazy.
	It sounds like it if he's trying to do all that that's a lot.
	What about Little House on the prairie do you guys ever watch that?
	I've seen a little bit on that like a couple hotties on there.
	Yeah like the the ones the they almost uh you mean like the like Laura?
	I mean that's a child but I mean yeah I don't even know the mom.
	I'm talking about the mom.
	Oh the mom?
	Yeah Carol.
	Yeah oh yeah she's cute.
	Yeah kinda but isn't she like really old now?
	She's getting older probably but who knows what could happen.
	You know they're doing a lot of like there's a lot of biohacking and stuff now.
	But I'm just saying a lot of beautiful ladies on here.
	Yeah definitely like and and now with this with this something in Amish culture if you see these dames is that these young ladies is that something you're attracted to growing up because it's almost had they almost have like an a little bit of an Amish feel to them.
	Yeah well you mean like a like uh like a settler ver like would this be a girl like if you'd have seen this when you were 12 or something and you look at Mary Ingalls right here the older sister you'd be like oh she's cute.
	Yeah I would and that's okay.
	Yeah that's okay.
	Okay.
	Yeah I'm just curious because we grew up watching this and it was great.
	They're remaking this right now they're making a new season yes that's pretty cool.
	I know so dude that one guy's white hair on his beard he must get be getting old.
	Yeah that guy he's actually I think that guy's deceased but um you mentioned being on Rumspringer right?
	Yeah.
	So you're on Rumspringer right now.
	Right now yep.
	Okay.
	How does rumspring start?
	How long does it last?
	Who gets to go on it?
	Okay, so pretty much everyone goes on it.
	Now, I've heard of where, like, families, like, didn't let their kids go on it.
	But, like, that has happened.
	But, like, sometimes when that happens, like, the kid just leaves and, like, he becomes English.
	Oh, because they feel they can't, they're not allowed to, that the family's not following the rules?
	No, everyone can go on rumspring.
	Everyone does it.
	Every single, now, every single, like, every single community that does rumspring, like, like they usually go on because what happens is around 16 16 and a half you go you join Rumspringer which we what we call the Uma the UA?
	Yeah, which basically means, what was it?
	Like young people.
	The youth?
	Yeah, youth.
	There you go.
	That'd be a better word for it.
	So you're picking up.
	The yua.
	Yep, the yua.
	Makes sense.
	Yep.
	So that's when you go to like sing-ins after church.
	Now, I never really went to one because when I went on Rumspringa, the church was kind of already going down.
	Because our church kind of, it's kind of split up now.
	Actually, our bishop kind of, he kind of booked out.
	He kind of decked out.
	No.
	Yeah.
	So right now there's, we still have church, but it's like only like an hour and like an hour and a half and so there's a lot of Amish around us there they're still Amish and then but they're not a member of the church anymore anymore because when it opens in the Swartz and true Arammish.
	Wait, wait, wait, when what opens?
	Like, so when the ch when the church doesn't come to agreement for like uh for a while and then it's kinda it's kind of like a rule that they have to open the doors and then whoever wants to go can you know get out of the no longer be a member of the church and doesn't require to have to follow the rules.
	Ah that's only that's only when you're like joined the church already.
	Okay so members of the church if the church is if for some reason there's diff there's some problem within that church where they're not able to uh like maybe obviously there was a problem with the bishop you're saying well the like the like the people in the community and the bishop and like the like there was there's an argument yeah that they were not agreeing on the same things.
	Okay, understood.
	So there was a disagreement.
	Yeah.
	And so the bishop left.
	Yeah, well, that is actually, this is a very rare thing to happen.
	The bishop just, like, it was a month.
	It was probably over a year of, like, this stuff happening.
	But it was usually, like, the smallest things.
	And I think it, like, annoyed some of the, like, the people in there.
	The congregation?
	Yeah, like, some of the members.
	Because I know if a guy, like, they came to his house because he's certain because the curtains on his window were, like, not the right shade of blue.
	even the reflectors on the buckys because some our buckies don't have that many reflectors not compared to like Buckeys in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania because they got like that big uh big reflector plate.
	Yeah like that triangle thing flashy huh yeah it is flashy and yeah we don't have we don't have that reflection actually go go to the left that bucky that's white horse one more right there right there that's yours that's how our buckys look like and there were there was what was the reflector on the front or the back of a bucky like that and uh they didn't like that.
	So the bishop had too many reflectors on his buggy?
	No like the members had too many reflectors on their bucky and they got they got after him for that.
	Oh the bishop got after him for it.
	Yeah like the bishop though the bishop doesn't even live in this community he lives down there because our bishop before he actually actually died in a house fire so no yeah like the whole the whole house burnt down and how what happened a candle?
	I don't know.
	I don't think it was a candle I think I think it was something with a stove in the wash house and this was a hot fire.
	It was 20 deal it was 20 below and this hot fire I was told it was hot.
	And it was and maybe it wasn't 20 below but it was definitely 10 below or so and like the fire just kept burning fire just kept burning and the f when the when the people came out the like the people in the red the people like what do you call like firemen?
	Yeah they had to like keep the water around us their holes wouldn't freeze.
	It was really cold.
	And the the his wife actually survived and apparently when she came out it was so hot she just laid on the snow and like she was fine for a little bit but she had like I see a little bit of burns and stuff like that.
	Do they think she started it or no?
	No I don't think so I because we don't have insurance like we don't have life insurance and stuff so I think it was I think it was an accident that's that that wouldn't be too funny if she like thought she had life insurance?
	Yeah that that would be wouldn't that be like illegal between the Hohile that happens all the time.
	The Hohile are always killing their spouses for insurance money.
	That's not very nice.
	That's like that isn't that murder yup.
	It sure is that's not very nice.
	And not only is it murder what but it's murdering for money but I guess if you don't have life insurance and you don't have to worry about it.
	Yeah.
	It's kind of nice.
	Yeah and so go ahead kill me you won't get anything.
	Yeah that's kind of the idea yeah so yeah like Damish like back in the wars I think the government tried to force us like to go to wars but we're like pacifists and stuff.
	Like yeah we'll we're like wrestling stuff when we're younger and and and then also sometimes maybe argue.
	But other than that like we don't like kill each other.
	The Amish are pretty peaceful.
	Yeah.
	And then yeah because back in like the wars and stuff like we we just did like all the cooking and the cleaning and the like saving people too.
	Is that true?
	Let me read that right here.
	World War the Amish were subject to the military draft in US wars but due to their religious beliefs as pacifists they were usually classified as cons conscientious objectors and assigned to non combatant or alternative service roles.
	World War one and two Amishmen were drafted but most received farm deferments or performed non combatant services.
	Some were sent to army camps and suffered abuse when refusing military service entirely.
	And in rare cases, some were in prison for refusing all forms of service.
	Yeah.
	Like the Amish, the and where the Amish came from, like, they went through a lot of stuff.
	It's like there's a there's a book actually where the Amish came from was like from the Anabaptists.
	Like those were all like those were like the like the OGs.
	They came all the back all the way from the Catholic church.
	Really?
	Like the OGs you're saying?
	Yeah.
	Did the Amish have to fight to establish themselves in America?
	Uh that I'm not actually very sure, but I know like when uh like when back I think it was back in the 70s, I think that they had to fight like court and stuff.
	I think they went through a lot of like court stuff.
	But like for that stuff, I think they did, but also like the government also agreed, because this is like a free country and stuff, and um while not armed struggles, the Amish sometimes face legal and social battles, especially regarding education and their right to practice their faith freely.
	Notably in the 20th century, they opposed laws that would force their children into public high schools, sometimes resulting in imprisonment or property loss for Amish parents.
	Wow, so they've had to fight to to maintain their way of life.
	Yeah.
	So there must be a lot of pride.
	Is there a lot of pride in being Amish?
	It like it varies from community to community, but yeah, like uh there there is pride in being Amish.
	Like we don't believe in being prideful, but that's like something like you feel good about.
	Right.
	So yeah, it's a little bit different than being like being like um egotistical about and just having some like confidence in your in your uh group.
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	So do you are do Amish people have to go to public school or do you go to your own school?
	We go to our own school.
	Do you have a school house?
	Yeah, we have a school house.
	I sent pictures of at the schoolhouse too, that white building.
	So the building in the front there, that's where uh where all the horses kept.
	Now it's since I'm more kids, we had to build another like a little uh shelter for the horses, so they that was down there and for the horses, yeah.
	For the horses.
	I thought you meant the cheerleaders or something.
	No, dude, we don't have cheerleaders because that would be like they're like they barely wear clothes and stuff.
	It looks like they're in their underwear.
	That's too much.
	Yeah, I've never I've never loved a basketball game so much that I got in my underwear for it.
	Yeah, that's right.
	That's that's a bit odd.
	And like even when they got a bit odd.
	When they go to the beach and stuff, like they're just in their underwear.
	Some of them get dressed up more for the beach, even.
	Yeah, like it's crazy.
	Yeah, like they get more dressed down.
	Yeah.
	Yeah.
	But but so you go to school there, you put your horses in the front building?
	Yep.
	Okay.
	And there's does everybody have their own horse, or sometimes people come in groups?
	Yeah, like famil one family usually has one horse, and then like do we have building, uh like a building, and then like one through eighth grade.
	It's like we all sit in there, and then so that's all in one room, and then there's usually one teacher.
	So one year we actually had like 25 kits and like one building.
	That was like the most we ever had, and then it varied from year to year.
	So like we started out with like 10 and then as it went up 14, 16, 20, and then 25, and then it kind of slowed down like came down from there.
	But yeah, like first that's where I went to school, first through eighth grade, and everyone's sitting in the same room, and then we have classes too.
	Is it pretty cool?
	Uh it can be if you make it, but it was I didn't really like school when I went to school, so what and what when does the school day start?
	So that's usually if I remember right, it was like was 8 30, I think, eight thirty, school starts, and then we sing like three, four hymns, and then that usually lasts fifteen, twenty minutes, and then we start reading, reading classes, and then it depends on the teacher.
	Some like to go from eighth grade down and others like to go from first grade up.
	So and then after that, it's it's uh it's recessed, like 15 minutes, and then usually arithmetic classes, and then till we do arithmetic until lunch, which is like around eleven thirty.
	And school goes out, like only for a little bit for like an hour.
	Do you go home for lunch or no?
	Uh no, no.
	We we pack our lunch, we eat at school, we sit at our desk and eat, and then usually that takes like I don't around 20 minutes, 15, 20 minutes, and then we go out and play different games and we play like uh what was it?
	Oh yeah, we played we played a game that we call rapid.
	It's where like the like the animal rapid rabbit.
	Yeah, like rapid.
	And then so what you do is there's a person in the middle as a ball.
	Like Easter, like that little like a Easter.
	Yeah, like a like a bunny, like yeah, we call it Hawasa.
	Hoasa?
	Yep, haasa.
	That's that's uh Amish word for rapids.
	Rapids.
	So we used to throw the ball out and it was if someone threw it.
	So it's kinda like that uh I gotta get better explaining this, but it's kind of doing good.
	So it's kinda like Dodge Ball, you have two base or uh two base on each side, and then there's a person in the middle, and he's got like a ball.
	Uh sometimes we use a basketball, sometimes we used to to tennis ball, tennis ball was like my favorite.
	Cause you could throw it better and it wouldn't hurt as much if it hit you.
	Okay.
	Cause you so you're you're supposed to throw it five up five times, and if you throw it up five times and no one runs through to the other base, then you can go on one base and count to basically do a countdown, and then if no one goes off of that base and goes through before you're done, you can just even though they're on base and go touch them and you know, get 'em out.
	Oh, they can actually physically catch them?
	Yeah, we uh catch 'em and take them down and but would this would this be a game boys would play with boys?
	Uh everyone everyone would play to teach you would even help too.
	So really?
	Yeah.
	So like it depends on like it depends how rough, like the uh the harder you try to get away, I guess you were you accepted the roughness, and you were basically you run through and try not to get caught, and then you then someone takes you down on the ground, you crawl, you crawl for the base.
	It's like it's almost like Vietnam and stuff.
	I've never been there, but no, but no, we've seen pictures, we all un understand exactly what it was like.
	Yeah.
	Um that's unbelievable, dude.
	So that was so that was a popular game, rap-a?
	Rapid, like rap it.
	Like the like the Easter bunny.
	Yeah, and rap it.
	Yeah.
	And then what did girls do?
	Do they play this game?
	Or what did girls who were definitely girls?
	Like some girls played this game, but what did like the real girls do?
	The real girls always like we always were together.
	Like we always we always helped each other play.
	Oh, everybody played the same stuff.
	Yeah.
	But it like when it was like a rainy day or something, like sometimes we play board games, and then not as much, but most times like we all played with each other because we didn't know stuff yet.
	Oh yeah, yeah.
	Cause we don't get taught that stuff in school or anything.
	Like what do you mean?
	Like the uh about girls and we don't really know too much about each other, I guess.
	Oh, so everybody's just kind of like just all the same.
	Yeah, we're all kids.
	Oh, you're all kids, yeah.
	Yeah.
	Are you allowed to flirt at school?
	Like at some point do people feel some attraction?
	Like, do you think like uh maybe maybe, but so the school I went to out I couldn't really do that because uh pretty much everyone I went to school was was either first or second cousin.
	Oh yeah, brother.
	Yeah.
	Cool.
	So yeah, it's like it's a tough world.
	It is, brother.
	And it you know, that's why we gotta do some of this redistricting and rezoning.
	Yeah, we gotta r like read like rezone, like move out, move in.
	That's what a that's what a lot of Amish been doing around us, and moving out to different communities.
	I guess it's a good thing, then you can, you know, you know, spread the family tree, because sometimes the tree becomes a bush.
	Yeah.
	They sure like intertwine with each other.
	The Amish population experiences a strong founder effect, meaning that their gene pool originates from a small number of original settlers.
	Most Amish people are distantly related because nearly all Amish in America descended from a small group of about 200 to 500 founders who immigrated from Germany and Switzerland in the 18th century.
	Yeah.
	The genetic closeness increases the likelihood of certain inherited conditions with some rare genetic disorders, much more common among Amish than in the general U.S. population.
	Do you guys have um Oh, this says cousin marriage?
	Marriages between cousins do occur.
	Not first cousin, second cousin does.
	Oh yeah.
	Yeah.
	For sure, buddy.
	But that like it's not really it's not really uh like uh forward, like hey, you can marry a second, but but it does happen.
	But if it happens, it happens.
	Yeah, it happens, it happens.
	You're already close, you might as well be closer.
	Yeah, that's right.
	Now I don't know how because we don't have like any family tree and stuff.
	You don't?
	No.
	But we do have like a big book that that tells us like all Amish communities, like in certain states, like who like basically a dictionary for for like Amish people and who's related to who and you have that.
	Yeah.
	It's basically like Google for the Amish when it comes to like finding like oh yeah, this person's related to this, or how old is this person?
	And it's kind even got their like addresses and stuff in.
	Oh, nice.
	Yeah.
	It's like a book where you can go look and see who's who and how old and how many kids they have and when the kids were born, so that's pretty cool.
	Oh yeah, right.
	That's kind of how it is.
	But it's a little bit different than that.
	Okay.
	Because they put like they like they put like two different, was it two different names on the front, like whoever like put it together and stuff.
	But some cause some Amish, like they know like who who's related to everyone.
	It's like it's almost like they're like they're hoppy, I get I guess you could say.
	And like they like they're happy?
	No, they're hoppy.
	Like they're it's their Oh, it's their hobby.
	Like H O B B Young like rap like rap it.
	No.
	Hobby.
	Yeah, like like hoppy.
	Like it's something they like to do in their for spare time.
	Yeah, yeah.
	That's what it is.
	Genealogy, put it together.
	Yeah.
	Oh, yeah, you gotta somebody's gotta know who's related, or you gotta be able to ask somebody.
	So do could there be people in your school that are your cousin, you don't even know it?
	Uh no, because everyone in the school, like they drive there with a horse and bucky, so it's fairly close because we have like mmm, let me think.
	I I I think it's like half at least a half a dozen schools in our in our like community.
	Okay.
	Yeah.
	And how do you decide which school you go to?
	Whichever you live closest to.
	That's it.
	Yep.
	Do they have like learn like we're they were talking about like obviously when cousins get together, things can get crazy.
	Yeah.
	And you might get one of the Lord's remixes out there.
	Or disabled, they call out here in America.
	Yeah.
	Mentally disabled.
	Yeah.
	Um, autism, Amish tism.
	I'm sure you guys are seeing it.
	Well, somebody'll just raise a barn with their eyes, you know, just put a nail through a four by four with their just with their with the sheer just, you know, with just a blink of an eye.
	I don't know if we have autism, but like we have like some with down syndrome.
	Yeah, because my great uncle, uh, he has down syndrome and stuff.
	He's like, Yeah, he's like, he's like 57 years old.
	And he's awesome, huh?
	Yeah, he's pretty awesome.
	Cause me and him, uh, me and him, I don't like I I just remember that I carry like carried wood with him.
	Like me and him carry wood into the like wood box for a stove, and I don't know why, but apparently I used to tease him a little bit too.
	I kind of feel bad for it now.
	I thought it like I think it was like like six or seven years old.
	I was really young.
	Oh, it's okay.
	You were just a kid, man.
	You were you're just joking around.
	Yeah, because I I thought I was having fun, but he could carry a lot of wood.
	Oh, yeah, he could carry a lot of wood.
	Yeah.
	He was pretty cool.
	And he passed away?
	No, he hasn't passed away yet, but I heard recently he's like he's not doing doing too good anymore.
	But but he's still he's still like surviving and stuff.
	But isn't that like real kind of old for a person with like down syndrome and stuff?
	That's a great question, actually, Timothy.
	Let me look at that up.
	How old do the uh how old do the down syndrome get if you don't mind pulling it up there?
	Yeah.
	It might be it might be like because he's Amish that he's like that he's clocking more time.
	Yeah.
	Because it's probably Harder, probably a down syndrome being out under the bright lights of regular life than it is out there just slurping in the moonlight.
	Yeah.
	The average life expectancy for individuals with down syndrome is now about 60 years.
	With many living into their 60s and 70s thanks to advances in medical care and social inclusion.
	That's awesome.
	McDonald's supposed to not be getting to them anymore.
	At McDonald's, huh?
	Yeah.
	It was really hampering them.
	Well, there was a time when the like um McDonald's, a lot of their employees had down syndrome.
	Oh, really?
	Bring that up.
	And then so it it caused a lot of people to take people there with down syndrome.
	So then they were eating all this McDonald's and it was like not good for them.
	No, it's like it was like backing them up.
	Yeah.
	Um, but McDonald's was hiring a hella down um.
	They had the whole I never knew like places like that higher.
	Uh oh, yeah.
	Especially now.
	Now there's coffee shops in America, and everybody that works there has down syndrome.
	Shane Gillis owns one.
	He's a comedian.
	Wow.
	So yeah, I heard Shane Gillis was around Amish too when he was when he's younger.
	Yep.
	He grew up on the Amish, he's famous.
	Some people said he has down syndrome, some people said he doesn't.
	Yeah.
	I don't know.
	We had a guy on who completed the Iron Man, which was one of the biggest physical challenges in the world.
	And and he has down syndrome.
	Chris Nikitch.
	Oh.
	Bring him up.
	What's it what's an Iron Man?
	It's like the toughest competition ever.
	Oh.
	There he is, right there.
	Wow.
	What are the conditions of an Iron Man, just so we're clear on it?
	It's one of a series of long distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corpor Corporation, consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, a hundred and twelve mile bicycle ride, and twenty-six mile run completed in that order.
	Wow.
	Think you could do it?
	No, I'd have to I'd have to like build three barns in a day and like run up and down to the house a couple of times.
	Yeah.
	Oh, you'd have to jack and gel a million gallons of water, dude.
	Yeah.
	Even if I had down syndrome, I don't think I could do it.
	No.
	It'd be really hard to do.
	Like even though I'm like, I I think you can be hard for the Amish people because first we we need to learn how to bike.
	Yeah.
	Yeah, because we can swim because of like the rivers and stuff.
	Are you allowed to have bikes or no?
	Like we can sneak them.
	Oh, you sneak them, huh?
	Yeah, but like the Amish over in like uh Indiana and Ohio and even Pennsylvania, they got like scooters and stuff.
	Uh-uh.
	Yeah, they do it.
	But they got like the low riders, like the ones that are like really close to the ground.
	Oh, yeah, the Amish, yeah, the Amish.
	Yeah, that you like stand on and stuff.
	Yeah.
	Not the ones that you like sit on.
	Oh, I see what you're saying.
	Yeah, like not the motorized ones.
	No, not not the motorized or the ones with like pedals and stuff.
	Yeah, they had them one arm, they have one Amish dude aura farming on one of these, I think.
	Oh, like was he doing it on the on the horse or like the scooter?
	I think the scooter.
	Oh.
	And they have a lot of Mexican Amish too now.
	The Amish, they call them.
	Yeah, I saw like there were a couple like Mexican Amish.
	I was like, because I read like a couple years ago, there was his Mexican Amish guy, he popped up.
	Like he was he looked fully Mexican.
	He looked like he came from Mexico, and yeah, I think someone must have adopted him.
	It sounded like that.
	And like he could speak like he could speak like the Mexican language.
	And then he also speak like Pennsylvania Dutch too.
	Hell yeah.
	Yeah.
	I love that, man.
	Yeah, dude.
	And that must be the craziest if you're Mexican, because then you're like, holy shit, I still have to do all this construction myself, you know?
	Like if you're Amish Mexican, people expect you to build stuff faster than anybody.
	Yeah, because Mexicans and Amish, we go back and forth, like we look who can build the fastest.
	If you have both, yeah.
	Now, when it comes to she rocking, I have to say Mexicans are definitely faster because they got them long, like those metal things that I think they're called stilts.
	Oh, really?
	So they're good at sheetrocking.
	Yeah, they I saw a video of them.
	They like held their tape mesher and then walked over, and the one guy, real tall looking guy, if he had like long legs, you he was on stilts and stuff.
	You had almost touched the ceiling.
	What um tell me about this.
	When you go to Rumspringer, how do you go?
	Is there a day that you go?
	What happens?
	You hit what age and how does it start?
	Uh it's kind of just it's kinda kind of spontaneous when it happens.
	You're like roughly roughly 16 and a half when it happens, and your parents are like, like, you can go, and then you kind of just go like what's do they sit you down at dinner and tell you do the is it like a an announcement at school?
	Is it at church?
	How does it happen that they say we're gonna allow you to go to Rumspring.
	It's not it's not really an announcement, it's just kinda like, hey, you can you can go there and then you probably have a couple rules, you know, don't do this, don't do that, but you're probably gonna do it anyway.
	Really?
	Yeah.
	And so is there a moment that an actual day that you leave?
	Like, do you say goodbye?
	Oh, no, no.
	So when Rumspringer happens and you go to the YOA, like you still live at home and stuff, you you're still Amish, and then you you just do stuff on the weekends that you're not supposed to.
	When do you go back to your Amish country though?
	Like when do you go back to your district to your to your home?
	So when you're in your roomspringer, you're always you're always at home.
	So don't like the like so what happens if you go on you're in room spring up for like r it's usually around four to five years.
	It it always depends.
	And then though when you get baptized, is usually when you have a girlfriend and then you want to get married.
	So that's the reason you get baptized is to get married, and then at the same time you're also becoming a member of the church.
	Okay, so before so you hit about 16 or something, yeah.
	And your parents say that you can go now.
	Yep.
	And that means on the weekend you can go do what you want.
	Yeah, kinda.
	And if if they don't hear too much about it, you you're fine.
	Then you're doing fine.
	Yeah, because sometimes you can be like, hey, you can't go this time.
	Okay.
	Yeah.
	And now do some people choose to stay out in Rumspringer and not come back to the church.
	Do you have that option, or that's not Yeah, where like people like leave and become ex Amish, yeah.
	And you that can happen.
	Yeah.
	And then when like Rome Spring ends, it's it's roughly around 20 to 21.
	That's usually when people got married.
	Or sometimes, you know, like all of a sudden they realize they have a kit, and then so that's not really not really a good idea, like to have a kit before you're married.
	So like they either get quickly married, or uh like my cousin, like his his my cousin Frank, like uh he's his umish?
	No, like he uh like his parents like they realized they had them that when they were still like on Rumspring and Amish, so they just left.
	Wow.
	Yeah.
	So it So your cousin, his he his parents were both on Rumspringer.
	Yep.
	Both Amish.
	Yep.
	They one of them got pregnant, the woman.
	The woman, yeah.
	And then they realized at that point that they had to leave, would they have been welcomed back into the church or no?
	Uh like so.
	What happens if that happens, either you leave or you like almost come married right away, because that has happened a couple of times.
	Actually, it happened for my parents, so they had to quickly get married.
	Okay, so you have to make that quick choice.
	Yeah.
	Now, if you decide to leave, are you shunned?
	Are you allowed to come back?
	What is it like?
	Like once you allow once you decide to leave.
	So if you leave and you're already a member of the church, you'll get you get shunned from it.
	And then if you're not a member, like on Rome Spring, if you leave, it it varies on the parents a lot, like on my dad's side, like they they wouldn't really for the longest time they wouldn't really be happy or real wouldn't really talk to their kids when they came came and visited that once at ex Amish.
	On my mom's site, they were like that for a little bit too, like in the first, but on my mom's site now, when the when the ex-Amish kids come back, well they're they're like now 40 and stuff, 30, 40, and maybe even older.
	Like they come back, they're welcome, like all that stuff.
	But my on my dad's side, they're they're still a bit a little bit iffy, but they're way better than they were.
	I see.
	So they're coming around a little bit more than they used to.
	Yeah.
	But probably in your grandfather's generation, if somebody was shunned, they might not talk to them.
	Yep, that's how it is.
	When you get sh when you get shunned, uh, you're not supposed to well, you can talk to them, but you're not supposed to like help them out in any way.
	Like you can't accept money from them, and you can't you can't you're not supposed to get a riot from them too.
	A ride.
	Like uh like let's say they were driving the ones that left, they were driving and stuff, you're not supposed to like write with them.
	Oh yeah.
	If they can't even stay on the path to heaven, how are they gonna keep you on a path when they're trying to take you somewhere?
	Yeah, they're gonna like take you off the road or something.
	They sure are.
	Yeah.
	They're literally literally dude.
	They're literally gonna take you off the road.
	You know, I I never expected to be a business owner.
	You know, at first we just were podcasting, and then um things just evolved.
	You know, one of the toughest points for us was when we started uh offering merch.
	You know, um, we had to get the shipping done, and it just, you know, I'm up in the middle of the night printing shipping labels, it became too much.
	Thankfully, ship station showed up to help.
	Ship station centralizes your shipping tasks into one easy platform, and their rate browser automatically finds you the Best rates across more than 200 carriers at discounts of up to 90%.
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	There's a reason why so many successful businesses use ship station.
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	First, actually, you know what?
	I'm gonna tap a little, I'm gonna have a little sip of Celsius because I need to pick me up.
	Have you ever had this before?
	No, not this, no.
	Is it is it good?
	Yeah.
	Yeah, it's grape.
	I thought it's as it's grape, so it's like really good.
	I'm gonna have to try this stuff.
	Can you have a little bit?
	Yeah.
	No alcohol.
	No alcohol.
	Okay.
	So what does it have?
	It's like water.
	Ooh, mine's cherry cola flavored.
	It's like spicy stuff.
	It's like a little bit of ADD, kind of.
	Oh, dude.
	This stuff actually tastes like the grapes that you squeeze out of the like not the grapes that you eat from the store, but like the Amish grapes that you can buy.
	Like the wines that you squeeze out of the what do you call that?
	The skin.
	Have you ever had those grapes where you just squeeze them out and you swallow them?
	Uh-uh.
	Yeah, it tastes just like this.
	Really?
	Yeah.
	Let's get a look at those Amish purple grapes.
	Yeah, they're they're uh they're yeah, that's how they look.
	And those, you know how the stores like they have no seats in them.
	Like these have like a seat in them, you just squeeze them out and then you swallow them.
	Cause if you try to eat them, like chew on them, like um, like you just bite into the seat and stuff.
	Oh, you just squeeze them out and swallow it.
	This actually tastes exactly like that, so it must be very natural.
	Yes, sir.
	It's the best, man.
	That'll be very good.
	That'll get you home, brother.
	That'll get you home.
	Yeah.
	So it's if there's I saw that this does have caffeine in it.
	Yeah, it has a little bit of caffeine.
	So I'll be like moving around.
	Yeah, you'll be feeling something.
	Yeah.
	Um, what has your rum springer experience been like?
	Uh it's it's been crazy.
	I've done like the first like year and a half.
	Well, I didn't do too much because I wasn't 18 yet.
	But like this summer, I've done so many crazy things.
	Actually, last summer I got to drive like a Corvette.
	That was crazy.
	Like these two girls, like they let me drive their Corvette.
	A lot of fun.
	I where'd you meet them?
	Uh through my my uncle, my ex-homish uncle Simon.
	I I met him through them.
	Yeah.
	And dude, I actually was at their wedding.
	The like uh the one with the black hair.
	I was at their like her and her husband's wedding.
	That was pretty cool.
	Yeah.
	And yeah, so I got to drive a Corvette.
	That thing was really fast too.
	Like you stamp on the pedal a little bit.
	It was like a horse with like some special oats or something.
	Yeah, put like put some Celsius in their water.
	Oh, yeah, that thing has been eaten uh diesel dipped carrots right there.
	How many horses got it?
	Oh, that's yeah, and they were like they were like well, I think it was overcrowded because there's only like two seats and then and then the she's like sitting in the middle and stuff.
	Hey, that's fine though, dude.
	You gotta have at least like one chick hanging out of a Corvette, dude.
	Yeah.
	That's Rumspringer.
	Yeah, that is rum springer.
	And then we we uh they wanted to get a couple videos because they thought that was pretty cool.
	Oh, it's amazing, bro.
	It's great to see you out there just trying some different things.
	Yeah.
	What other things did you try that you found that you liked and didn't like out there?
	Uh uh, was it?
	Oh, yeah.
	I also got the other the other uh weekend, I got to went to like it was Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
	There was like uh like an air show where they had like the Blue Angel airplanes at all kinds of airplanes.
	Nice.
	And then they also like you had to pay a little bit.
	Well, it was actually quite a bit.
	It was like 200 for like one helicopter ride.
	And I was like, you know, this might be like a week or two of wait, just like of me working, but like I want to go on a helicopter ride.
	So I was kind of scared to like hold my phone out because uh because like the helicopters open and stuff, like what happened if you drop it and stuff, but it's really smooth too.
	And when we took off, like we took off and stuff, it was like it was really crazy.
	It felt like we were like I felt like I was on a like on a plot piece of plywood, and I just started going up.
	It was like it was crazy.
	And it felt really crazy.
	That's actually at least right there.
	Oh nice.
	Yeah, he's still he's still Amish at home.
	He he bust his like bust his head like cut his hair and stuff.
	So wow, that's exceptional, bro.
	You got out there.
	You just felt like a bird, huh?
	I did feel like a bird.
	And this guy, I think he I think he gave a little bit of longer ride because we're Amish and stuff.
	And he we like went on sideways on the we went sideways on the like on the above the lake and stuff, cause like if you hit water really far off, it's like it's pretty much like concrete, I think.
	Yeah.
	So we went sideways, it almost felt like I was falling off.
	But I had my trusty seat belt on and stuff, so we we were we were pretty good.
	So that was that was a crazy ride.
	But it was actually kind of smooth, you know.
	Uh I was actually more scared when I was like a couple weeks later, it's like a probably like a month later.
	It was right after I went to your concert.
	Your concert was like really crazy.
	Oh, did you have fun?
	Could you understand a lot of the material?
	I did, yeah.
	Like some of it I didn't understand.
	Like the bullet guy was there, the guy that his parents are like from the Middle East was there.
	They were pretty cool.
	And then you came out, and then I thought it was really funny.
	This was actually, you know, before the show, I was jamming out.
	I was with my cousin Frank, and he would like we were I was just jamming out to the music.
	Yeah, because people don't say this is where we met.
	We met after a show.
	Yeah.
	And I was like, dude, we've been trying to have an Amish person on, and then here God just put us right together, bro.
	Yeah, God is great.
	He works, he works in mysterious ways, it seems like.
	He's the magician, man.
	Yeah.
	And I sat, you know, Steel Vine would probably I I wanted to give you like wear an Amish hat.
	Like Oh, yeah.
	Yeah.
	Did you give me that hat or not?
	No, I that was it was my hat.
	It didn't really find it on.
	Actually, uh, I have a little bit of surprise for you.
	Hey, Frank, you want to bring that over?
	Oh dude, I got so what I did over the last week, me and your uh m the uh me and your some of your strong connections were talking.
	And uh I I they they didn't quite know what size your hat was.
	So it's it's a bit off an odd thing to like know and stuff, but yeah, it's just an odd thing to ask a man.
	Yeah, it is.
	But I wanted uh we got an estimate size and I want to give you this hat.
	So now you can be like you can be like part of the Amish Mafia.
	Oh, that's cool, dude.
	Yeah, thank you so much.
	And a hat size, that's just like the waist for your head, you know?
	Yeah, it is.
	You don't want to admit you're a little fat b above the ears, you know.
	Yeah, right.
	This has a band and it was just the front of the bag.
	That's the front, yeah.
	All right.
	So that way you always wear the hat right.
	Does it fit?
	Oh, it's a bit loose.
	Is it a bit loose?
	Or perfect.
	I'm glad I got you the right size.
	Danke.
	You're welcome.
	That means you're welcome.
	Does danke mean thank you?
	No, dengue.
	Yeah, it's the same thing in German.
	Like, thank you in uh German and Pennsylvania Dutch is the same thing.
	Dengue.
	Yeah.
	Heck yeah, dude.
	Yeah, and now you're now you're a part of Amish.
	You just need the rest of the clothes.
	I feel great, man.
	Do you think I would make a good Amish person or not?
	And be honest with me.
	Ah.
	Well, do you do you like break a lot of rules and stuff?
	I don't know, really.
	I don't think so.
	Yeah.
	Like the like if you don't really break any of the rules, you make a pretty good Amish.
	I could get my mom to get you some Amish clothes for you.
	Maybe for Christmas, I'll exchange something with you, and I could send you something that would be uh that your community would accept as well.
	Yeah.
	Are you allowed to accept gifts from people that are not Amish?
	Yeah, I accept gifts from people that are not Amish.
	Do your parents allow you to?
	Is that okay?
	Yep.
	They because they sometimes like we all we had sometimes a guy from uh around Christmas time, sometimes a guy like brings some stuff, and then we like he's done it for a couple years and he like gifts all the younger kids some presents and stuff.
	Oh, that's nice.
	Yeah, it's very nice.
	Oh I I know you had mentioned before that your parents said there's some stuff not to do during realm spring, like what was some of that?
	Uh they didn't they didn't really say too much, but they they tell me like when uh when I do something uh that they think didn't think was uh how to say it was like probably not the best thing to do.
	Like appropriate?
	Yeah, like not probably like because sometimes I do wild stuff, you know, like go on the Walmart with riding a scooter.
	Yeah.
	Because that came around and But I mean did they have advice against like sex, drugs, things like that?
	Uh no, not like any any like any sex stuff that that doesn't get talked about.
	You just kinda you kinda have to do like door to explore, you just kinda have to, you know, go out on the chungle and see see what bites.
	Damn.
	So yeah, we went to Walmart.
	Oh, something will bite at Walmart, dude.
	Yeah.
	I was looking at the TVs, they're like a thousand dollars.
	Like crazy.
	That's like a third of a bucky.
	And uh And a TV doesn't even go anywhere.
	It just like sits somewhere.
	I'd rather just play charades with my buddy, like you guys probably do a lot.
	Y'all play charades a lot?
	I'm not even quite sure what that is.
	Oh, it's where someone like you write down some movies or TV.
	Oh, shoot, you don't know a lot of movies and TV shows.
	Charades is like somebody acts something out and you have to guess what they're acting out.
	Like they impersonate something.
	Oh, you like pretend um so like let's say uh I was pretending to be the bishop, I'd be like, like my like go down here and then big angry look.
	Maybe scratching your beard, maybe going like this or something.
	Yeah.
	Yeah, yeah, like something like that.
	No, I've never I've never played that, but uh I kind of know what you mean.
	Yeah.
	Yeah.
	Um but you guys don't talk about sex within the Amish community much, like at school and stuff, there's not a class that teaches you about it?
	Not in school, no.
	So like Will a dad kind of take his son and have like a birds in the bees talk, like in in whole hurl.
	Hohilair.
	Hohilair.
	The the it's kind of the birds and the bees, like the dad will take you and talk to you about how things work, you know?
	Yeah, no, no.
	That like all of that stuff, you uh you actually have to like figure out and stuff.
	Okay.
	But like since you got phones and stuff, you can kinda you know you can kind of you can figure it out.
	Like, but there's some stuff you I mean, you but you you're not allowed to look at pornography on your phone and stuff.
	No, you're not supposed to, no.
	Yeah.
	No, I stay away from that stuff.
	Yeah, it's bad.
	It is very bad.
	Yeah.
	Yeah.
	Um, since you got into rum screening, can you get a girlfriend and stuff like that?
	Or like what are you allowed to do?
	Yeah, I can get a like a girlfriend, like all that stuff.
	But does she need to be Amish?
	Preferably, yeah.
	But like if I were to get a like a girlfriend that was not Amish, should he left to become Amish, or I would have to like leave like Amish.
	Do you think that there are a lot of women out there who are willing to become Amish?
	Does that happen a lot?
	Uh I know I know of one case where that is happening, and you know, I I don't know how often it happens, but it's it's rare where it like actually goes through.
	I know a lot of people want to become Amish, but they're they're not ready to make the like the final like the final step towards it.
	So but yeah.
	What's the thing that keeps them away from that?
	Makes them makes makes people afraid to take that final step, do you think?
	I think it's like it's I think it's a loss of like your phone, the lights on the ceiling, the fans on the ceiling, the like the vents and holes in the ceiling, like all that stuff, I think, and then like the couch, the TV, and then whatever else, you know, like uh whatever else ho he lay at uh use.
	If you have an Amish wife, does a wife have to provide like food and sexuals and stuff for the husband, or is it just is it always negotiable, or does the wife have like a responsibility for kind of food and sexuals and stuff?
	Yeah, so the the way like it's everyone kind of accepts like their like it's just uh how do I say this?
	It's like normal, and you like it's where it's kind of like it's where it's everyone has a mutual understanding of like what they have to do, right?
	Because like the woman, you know, cooks, cleans, you know, takes care of things around the house, and then like if she needs help, she'll ask like the husband, uh, for like help, and then usually the husband's you know gone most of the day working, like either building houses, plowing the fields, or cutting like lumber or making cabinets, or even polishing cap nick stuff stuff like that.
	Like they help each other when they're when they're like at like at home, like if if it needs, but yeah, like the like the wife does cooking, cleaning, take care taking care of the kids.
	Got it, and then stuff in the garden too.
	Right here it says Amish women mainly focus on housekeeping, child rearing, gardening, and food preparation.
	Many manage home finances, have their names on property deeds, and control the family checkbook.
	Um women nurture the spiritual life of the children and are active in maintaining Amish cultural practices.
	Yeah.
	So women have a pretty strong voice in the Amish community.
	Yeah.
	Well, uh, I'd say say so, yeah.
	Yeah.
	Um are Amish women good cooks, like do they make some cool stuff, or what are some good Amish meals?
	Oh yeah, like Daumish D Amish make I'd say make some of the best food, like especially grandma.
	She had a lot of experience in the like in the field stuff, or it's how I mean in like she has a lot of experience in like the field of cooking and stuff.
	Like they're her bread sticks, they're like out of this world.
	Are they?
	They're really good.
	And then my mom's What do you put on them?
	Ah, I'm not even quite sure.
	Can you put butter on them or not?
	Yeah, butter.
	Yeah, it looks exactly like that.
	And can you put a little bit of salt on them?
	Do you have salt?
	Ah, no, we don't put salt on.
	They're like they're garlic bread steaks.
	Oh, so they already have garlic on them.
	Yeah, they and they're and they're just they're really good.
	And my favorite meal, like, let's say we're doing a lot of stuff, like building something or like a frolic where like the whole community comes together and a frolic it's called?
	Yeah, that's like when uh the whole community comes together and built something like a barn.
	Oh yeah.
	Yeah, and then like they'll make they'll make some either some chicken or some burgers with mashed potatoes, corn, and like I think you would call like uh it's like uh mac and cheese.
	Oh yeah.
	And then you put some so what we do with our food's like hot, we put some applesauce on it, mix it up.
	Really?
	Yeah, and then it's nice and cool.
	And then pork and beans.
	Oh, if the food's hot, you'll put applesauce on it?
	Yeah, to like cool it down and stuff.
	So like the that's like one of my favorite meals.
	And then yeah, even better, like if you have steak and stuff, like if you have steak, that's really good.
	Yeah.
	And do you have dessert too?
	Oh, we have we have pretty good dessert too, like like pies, uh oh, I bet Amish pie is good.
	Yeah, they have sugar or don't you?
	Yeah, they they put sugar in them.
	I'm not sure what they all put in because I know how to make scrambled eggs and that's about it.
	Same.
	Yeah.
	And like yeah, they put what is it?
	Like uh What's a popular pie that you have or a popular dessert?
	A popular pie is uh true fly pie is one of them.
	Okay.
	And then peanut butter pie.
	Shoe fly pie, what is it?
	Yeah.
	That I I've not had it.
	I've not really we don't have it very often, but another pie that's really good is mince pie, like uh pumpkin pie, that's really good.
	Like apple pie, that's really good.
	God, that's a good one.
	Like I want that.
	Like that stuff is pretty good.
	Yeah, that's my cousin right there.
	Oh, really?
	I've seen this woman before.
	She's Amish.
	Yeah, no, she's ex-Amish.
	Oh, she's ex-Amish.
	She used to be Amish, yeah.
	So she's my she's my cousin, actually.
	Oh wow.
	Yeah.
	So I got I guess famous cousins too.
	Um, what are the fears of having a girlfriend that's not Amish?
	Just that they won't understand the religion and the culture?
	Like like the biggest fear would be like that like the church or like the parents would find out.
	That's definitely the biggest fear.
	But is it okay if she decides to join the church?
	It's okay.
	Yeah, it is okay.
	But like for that to hap that rarely ever happens.
	It's like it's almost as rare as like the bishop leaving the community.
	Got it.
	Would she be welcome if that happened?
	Yeah, if she was if she was fully Amish, yeah, she would be welcome.
	Now, she might get a little bit of looks in the beginning, but yeah, as long as she's fully Amish, that would be good.
	Dude, she deserves the looks probably.
	Yeah.
	You know what I'm saying?
	You can you can handle a little bit of looks out of the game.
	Can Amish people tickle each other or not?
	Is that is that allowed or not?
	Is that uh yeah, like like uh like when we were little kids, we used to tickle each other.
	Yeah, yeah, but like I don't really tickle anyone.
	Yeah.
	Yeah.
	Yeah, I don't think people should keep doing it, but I'm just making sure it's allowed when you're kids.
	Yeah.
	Yeah.
	And do they play hide and go seek?
	Like what kind of stuff do people do to pass the time?
	Like either ride horses, the ponies, like uh pon like pony carts, and then also hide and like hide and seek.
	That's pretty fun.
	And then oh yeah, we play board games or just play with cars, play with blocks.
	I I used to play like underneath the porch or in the garden.
	I used to we used to have a lot of a lot of like cars and stuff.
	And I used to like pretend there was like a whole world there in the in the garden.
	So mom didn't really like when I played in the garden when it was like all the all the corn was up, the potatoes, like I actually like playing when it was corn.
	Corn was up and then uh the potatoes because it there was like it was a way more possibilities for imagination.
	You could have a place here, a place there.
	Yeah, just more creativity going on.
	Yeah, and but if the it was the garden didn't work out, you or either that or just play under the porch.
	Like the porch was like oh yeah, like three feet high, so the older I got, the more the more I hit my head on up on the up on the porch.
	That's when it's time to get out.
	Yeah.
	That's when I decided, you know, if I do play in like when I do play with cars and stuff and out in the dirt, like the the garden's the place to be.
	Yeah, for sure.
	Yeah.
	And do people start dating within the Amish culture at a certain age?
	Or is it kind of taboo?
	Or how does it work?
	Like is there a dance like at school where you can invite a girl to a dance?
	Like, how does dating and that sort of like adolescent attraction kind of stuff like that?
	Where you trying to get s you know, you're trying to uh you know, meet a girl, or if you have a first kiss.
	What's that?
	How's that whole universe in the Amish culture?
	So, like our school only goes until eighth grade, so we're out of school in like 13 or 14.
	So you're done with school completely?
	Yeah, completely done, and then you go to work.
	Dang.
	Yeah.
	So we didn't we didn't I don't even know what high school is or public school or or c like I've never been there.
	Never ever.
	I want to go one day.
	Like high school's just doing drugs and trying not to die of uh driving while intoxicated.
	Yeah.
	Like if if that happened never happens for us, like our horse will just take us home.
	Right.
	Yeah.
	That's a Tesla.
	You basically have an original you kinda have like one of the self-driving cars.
	Yeah, 'cause if you fall asleep on your horse, you know, might not be the safest way, you know, because you might, you know, go a little bit over on the road, but as long as the people with like steering wheels and stuff, they'll be if as long as they're like okay and stuff, the horse will like go home.
	And like so the way it works for like dating, if you're like, what is it?
	So like 16 and a half, like some it depends on the parents, like my mom and dad, like they weren't really allowed to like become like date like official girl boyfriend and girlfriend, uh until like until they were 18.
	Yeah.
	But like in our community, like right now, like it basically happens whenever now.
	Like as soon as you join like the like room springer, like you can.
	And usually the way you meet and hang out is through singings, like after church or at like weekend parties.
	That's usually how it is.
	So weekend parties are those, do those happen in your district or those happen off of property?
	That it it all it varies for the where the Amish parties.
	Sometimes it happens when the like sometimes when the parents aren't home, we go to like uh we we go to like their place and party there.
	So we had Amish parties, will people just dr like uh are people drinking and stuff like that?
	It's a little bit more like freewheeling.
	Yeah, you like drinking and then like even like the vapes things popped up too.
	Like Do Amish like to vape or not?
	Some do, yeah.
	Yeah, I knew it.
	Yeah.
	Some do.
	I knew it.
	But also like cigarettes and then sometimes we go like how a pipe too.
	A lot of Amish look like they would smoke a pipe.
	Older, the older ones too, but the like the ones that are the younger ones usually don't.
	They usually stick to cigarettes and stuff like that.
	But sometimes like we'll we'll go to like an ex-Amish person's house and party up there and it's it's a lot of fun.
	It is, and when do you if you if you're doing rum spring or when do you have to be back at home?
	Like are you leave on Friday, you have to be back on Sunday night, or what is the rules kind of?
	No, it depend it varies from family to family.
	Let's say you have church tomorrow, you probably want to be home like you know, before the morning so you can get a little bit of sleep, or there's not not church you can come home or you can't.
	Just it just like depends.
	But usually I like when I when I do it, I usually don't come home until like later Sunday.
	Okay.
	Yeah.
	And do they drug test you or whatever if you're Amish?
	Do you have to get drug tests?
	No, no, we don't have to do any like drug tests.
	Really?
	Yeah, like no tests and stuff.
	Damn.
	Cause y'all got y'all's own year-long Halloween going on out there in the fields.
	I'm like Yeah, like sometimes, like sometimes in the woods, the fields, like just depends where the spot is.
	Yeah.
	Yeah.
	But now, like all the Amish that like party and stuff, like our number one way of like talking to each other is through like Snapchat.
	They've really taken over Snapchat?
	Yeah, like if you yeah, if they've an Amish, like a young Amish person that is roughly my age, if they have a phone, like a smartphone, they have Snapchat.
	Dang.
	Yeah.
	So When was the first time you saw a phone or a screen?
	Do you remember?
	Uh I think it was one time it was not the first time, but I I remember this one time when one of my ex-Amish uncles was at our place with his girlfriend, and she let me look, like look on her phone, and I was like sitting right beside her and she she grabbed out her phone, she like started texting someone, and she was she was flying through like the keyboard and stuff.
	You were like swiping little lines and all of a sudden words popped up.
	Like it was like it was like bop, bop, bop, bop the words, like almost as fast as you can like talk and stuff.
	I was like really surprised.
	So that's like that's like the like I'd say like the first some of the first memories.
	Seeing a phone.
	Um what things are forbidden in you guys' culture, kind of?
	Uh a lot of things are like electricity, um, like having a smartphone.
	We're allowed to have like phones for like our businesses, like phone shacks and stuff.
	And then TVs, what else?
	Like bait pretty much anything that like doesn't have like that that requires like electricity and stuff, and also like certain certain color of like shirts, dresses, if it's too bright, it can also be like you can the bishop or deacon will talk to you about it.
	Oh yeah.
	About like it being the wrong color and flashy.
	Too flashy, yeah.
	And also if your hair cuts like way short.
	So my my haircuts like like okay, 'cause my mom gives me a haircut every time.
	Oh yeah.
	Yeah.
	So I've never actually had a a different kind of haircut.
	Oh yeah, beautiful.
	Yeah, so I almost almost have a mullet.
	You you could've probably have an Amish haircut too.
	Oh yeah, I think I have a little bit.
	Yeah.
	You just let that just like the hair in front of the ear girl.
	No.
	I could have been Amish.
	Block a little bit of the sound of to like to the ear and stuff.
	Yeah.
	Yeah.
	I would have enjoyed being Amish, I think, man.
	Yeah.
	How are regular people and Amish people different from each other?
	Have you gathered?
	How how do they seem different from each other?
	So like the main thing I've noticed is like a lot of Amish are when they're in public, it seems like they're like bit like a bit more respectful, I guess.
	Another thing that's um big, I guess, uh like so if we like if we did something that was big and wrong, like some one time my little brother he stamped uh lots of corn down in our cornfield and he got a spanking from that.
	Like that's I guess that's the difference because I see uh a lot of kids don't like I guess they don't get spankings anymore.
	Yeah, they don't do it anymore.
	Yeah.
	They should.
	I mean, I don't think kids should get abused, but sometimes you spanking is okay, I think.
	Yeah, because this is like getting beat up and then 'cause we never got like beat up or anything, but like if we did something bad, we got like three cracks with like a like a bell or something.
	That but we never got abused and stuff, so like just I guess discipline.
	So discipline is something that seems stronger than the Amish community.
	Yeah.
	What are some crimes that they have?
	Are there any crimes that are popular in Amish land?
	I'm not quite sure.
	Maybe maybe like taxes sometimes, because I know some people don't like file taxes and stuff, like 'cause the only tax that we get like that are we free from that the Amish don't get taxed, it's like Social Security tax.
	So when we get old, the government doesn't like pay us and stuff.
	Oh, they don't so you don't want to pay into that.
	No.
	Wow, I wonder why not.
	When you join the church, uh you you get like the bishop and the government, I guess, work together to where you're like exempt from the social security tax.
	But that's like the only tax that I know of that you're like exempt from.
	Other than that, like if but if you don't file taxes, because I know some don't.
	Mm-hmm.
	But other than that, we have to pay all the other taxes.
	The Amish are exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes, FICA, if they formally reject benefits and file for exemption due to their belief in mutual community support.
	Wow, so you guys feel like you don't need that you support each other, huh?
	Yeah, a lot of Amish don't have insurance for stuff too, and uh so when Well hell no, I don't think you could insure them, you know.
	But for business, I don't I think for businesses they somehow do it, I think.
	But for like let's say you like let's say you fall off a roof or something, you hurt yourself, and then let's say you go to a hospital, because I know the hospital, like they they charge quite a bit.
	Oh yeah.
	They they I don't know where they come up with the crazy numbers, but they'll take you through the rum springer.
	They will.
	They'll drag they're like dragging.
	They drag you, dude.
	Yeah, it's like dragging behind the bucky.
	Yeah, yeah.
	Or like horizontal way and you're trying to hang on and you're like scraping across the gravel and stuff.
	But yeah, but like like all the community helps pay for that, like if that would help.
	I got it.
	So there's a lot of community support.
	That's a lot of at any point in somebody's life.
	So you guys might have a day where you're like, Mr. So and so needs help, or Miss So and so needs help, let's go help them.
	Yep, that's how it works.
	That's a big part of your life.
	Yeah.
	Like, for example, what are things you would go help a neighbor do?
	Uh like w really with anything, like putting away hay, we've done that lots of times, or like building a barn, like we've done that too.
	Or like even a house too.
	Like, if they need a h help, like a day or so, we'll come together and help each other.
	And I know back in the day, uh, we used to help each other uh like someone does hay and then everyone everyone helps this person do hay, then that person also like it's just a group effort.
	This person, this person, this person, like all around the community.
	But that doesn't really happen happen anymore.
	Like, you know, like most most uh what is it?
	Oh yeah, most Amish d they don't f they still farm a little bit, but most of them do like construction or like building cabinets or oh it's changed.
	Yeah.
	So the Amish are farming less than they used to?
	Yeah, because it's like it's it's not as sustainable anymore.
	When my dad was growing up, all they do is farm and milk cows.
	Hmm.
	Like they milk a lot of cows.
	So what are some popular products like you said like cabinets and stuff?
	You see a lot of those.
	You see cabinets, you see furnaces sometimes.
	Yeah.
	I don't know if that's a real thing, or that's just something that is made up and they claim that Amish do it.
	Like you mean like wild up furnaces.
	Now I I'm not sure quite where those come from.
	But like the furnaces cause this wowing to it.
	Now they might they might get it from like uh from like a person that's not Amish, get them from there.
	The biggest shift in Amish economic life in the last century has been from agriculture to non-farm businesses.
	Hmm.
	In the early 1900s, nearly all Amish families depended on farming for their livelihood.
	Today only about 10% do, with the majority now involved in various trades, crafts, retail.
	Um and then for yeah, what are some of those?
	Um construction and woodworking, carpentry, cabinet making, and now famous Amish furniture shops.
	That is a big thing now, huh?
	Yeah.
	Quilt making, sewing related trades.
	Yeah, like selling Amish food too and quilts and like a lot of stuff like that.
	It's a big part of the culture up there.
	Yeah, it is.
	And how will you will you guys have uh sh like places on your property where people come and buy them, or do you take them off property and people buy them there?
	Usu usually like like if you have a greenhouse or uh like a like a place where like the like where you can buy like food and stuff, that's usually like a little building on the property, so like a market?
	Yep, like kinda like a market, or like there's a farmer's market where uh where Amish go to like a town for a day and they they bring all the baked goods and you know stuff like that.
	And there's also a lot of Amish places, like a lot of places where Amish are, where it's like tours, they offer tours and then they bring 'em around and then it's kinda like Domish Mall, but it's like like the stores are like really far apart from each other, like a couple miles.
	But yeah, they bring 'em around and they they get to see an Amish, you know, Amish farm.
	I think they're called like Amish Tours and like tours stuff like that.
	Okay.
	And then you can like stop at the Amish place and like buy something from like the store and stuff.
	Got it.
	Yeah.
	Yeah.
	We've been up there before and stopped at some places that I think we're having cheese and ice cream, maybe even.
	Yeah.
	I'm not sure.
	But like usually we only like make ice cream through the winter because you just grab the snow out of the ground and put it in a bucket and could you make ice cream if you needed to?
	Yeah.
	Like if it was if we had ice or something cold that you put around the thing where you make ice cream, because you gotta crank the ice cream.
	Gotta like you crank and then the thing in the middle spins around the ice and oh yeah.
	Yeah.
	So like Amish ice cream is pretty good.
	What music do you guys listen to?
	I know you said in the beginning there's some different sometimes.
	People will sneak in some deaf leopard.
	But if not, you guys just sing a lot.
	Is there a lot of Amish songs and dancing as well or no?
	Uh no in our community there's not really any dancing.
	There's the like the only like the only music uh songs that are really a louder would be like like chiman hymns, but then like on the uh then sometimes we like sneak out on the weekends and stuff and and uh listen to some soldier boy or something.
	Yeah, like uh like what is it, like Def Leopard, or Bonchovy, you know, a lot of Amish, like rock and roll, and then I guess house EDM music, and then also like a lot of country, like Garth Brooks, Mark and Wallen, yeah, people like that.
	But I also listen to like a little bit of rap stuff, like Amish Paradise is that's a pretty good song.
	Amish Paradise.
	Yeah.
	Who sang that?
	Uh we're D. That makes perfect sense.
	That's great.
	Yeah.
	Amish paradise, that's a pretty I love that song.
	That's a banger, huh?
	It is a banger, yeah.
	He looks a little bit mad there, but it it was a pretty good song.
	He's probably pissed his horse ran off or whatever.
	Yeah, something like that.
	Yeah, yeah.
	Yeah.
	And then also like I like to listen a little bit of like rap stuff too.
	Oh yeah.
	Yeah, like Ghana, a little bit of uh Ghana.
	Oh, you listen to some Gunner?
	Yeah, like uh like I I don't really listen to what he says.
	I looked at the lyrics like a couple times and like there are there's the lyrics aren't aren't the best, but like I like the way it sounds like like the like the like the uh sounds like like wind chimes and then it just it sounds very melodic.
	He's a vibe, yeah.
	He's got it.
	Yeah.
	Um what else was I thinking about?
	Where else can we go from here?
	We're almost done.
	Let me think about what else we can talk about.
	You know what I'm gonna do, Timmy?
	I'm gonna take that down and keep this up here.
	That's pretty cool.
	I'm just gonna make sure that you're always here in spirit, dude.
	I appreciate that.
	You bet, man.
	What I want to ask you something.
	Um with the risk of people leaving the community and stuff, are families still very close, or do they only get closer after people join the church?
	Does that make any sense to you?
	Uh, I think I think it does.
	So like most of the time the f like the family's very close, unless like when the when the kids and the parents like they don't agree on stuff and then they leave.
	That's like the like the time when like they don't they're not as close anymore.
	It it depends on the person, I guess, and the parents too.
	Is it pretty heartbreaking when that happens in the community?
	Yeah, it is it's like when I was younger, I was like when someone left, it's almost like it's almost like someone died.
	Not quite, but it almost felt like that.
	But since I got older, I understand it a bit more, and it's uh it's not as bad as like it used to be.
	So yeah.
	Wow, that's you right there.
	Yeah, I was I was like really skinny when I was when I was younger.
	I'm still kind of skinny, you know.
	You look like that guy in Kingpin a little.
	You seen Kingpin?
	No idea what that is.
	It's like an Amish movie, it's like a historical Amish film or whatever.
	Oh, I almost look like that dude.
	Yeah.
	When he's younger, yeah.
	Not now.
	Oh.
	When he's younger, but he's classy guy, he's a great guy.
	Yeah, he looks like a great guy too.
	Oh, yeah, Randy Quaid.
	He's got like a big beard now.
	Yeah, yeah.
	He's doing okay.
	Yeah.
	Um, I'm a fan of his.
	Um what have you decided about rumspringer and what you're gonna do with your family and the church and stuff.
	Have you made any decisions yet?
	Uh like not yet.
	Like, I the final uh the final decision will probably be in like probably within like two years or so.
	Okay.
	And then I it depends if I leave or you know, join the church and well, right now you can actually can't really join the church because like there's no bishop that you can't you can join other churches that are like little bit aways in a different district.
	But like, yeah, I'd probably be like two years until I you know like make my final decision because it it's a kind of a big decision.
	Yeah, yeah.
	Uh what would be the thing you think that would draw you out of the faith that would draw you out of the church and out of the district?
	Uh I would think like if I wanted to do something, like something that would like somet like something I'm doing right now, like this podcast, like something worldly, and like they'd probably come down on me for like doing something like that.
	I guess would drive me away a little bit.
	It feels a little bit like a little bit restrictive, but I guess that's the only thing I would think.
	But you don't feel like doing this podcast will mess up your opportunity to go back or s or come or leave, huh?
	No, I don't think it I don't think it will.
	Okay, good.
	I don't want that to happen, man.
	I want you to be able to make the best choice for yourself no matter what.
	It sounds like a really beautiful community, is it?
	Yeah, it's it's very beautiful, I'd say.
	It sounds like you have a lot of like uh community, uh a lot of sense of togetherness, you know.
	Yeah, a lot of uh like um you feel do you feel a strong sense of purpose being Amish?
	Uh yeah, like you like the kind of all pull down or you know, work hard, you know, the higher you work the better, because you get you you stay in shape and then you the more you can help out is always better.
	Because I I love helping out people and making people stay.
	That's like one of my favorite things to do.
	I like doing that.
	So it's a lot of fun.
	Yeah, I think it's important, you know.
	I think that's one way we really feel ourselves up, is like doing something for somebody else, you know.
	It feels good.
	Yeah, it's like and it you seem like you get to do a lot of that in your community, so there's probably a strong sense of feeling of like doing good.
	Yeah, there is if you guys are helping each other out a lot.
	Yeah.
	Are siblings really close in your community, or is that kind of not No, you mean the siblings?
	Yeah.
	Yeah, usually like the siblings are usually close, you know.
	Not like we're close, you know, just like just like brother and brothers.
	Yeah, legally Close or whatever.
	Yeah, yeah, like legally close.
	So I usually the brothers and the sisters, the they're usually uh keep the like the sisters are closer to themselves and the brothers are like closer to themselves.
	For sure.
	Yeah.
	For sure.
	Here's my here's my little brother.
	Oh, that's him right there.
	Yeah.
	I I've like he like he doesn't like he doesn't really uh like you probably wouldn't care if I put his like face up on like social media and stuff.
	But well yeah I blurted out.
	I put like a thing over his eyes.
	That's fun though, you guys.
	So a lot of times when you're Amish, you just driving around hanging out, telling stories and stuff.
	Yeah.
	Making each other laugh a lot.
	Are you allowed to laugh?
	Yeah, you're allowed to laugh.
	Like we laugh, like we like drink coffee and laugh, and like at work, at work we're laughing a lot of time we talk, and because like when you're like, I don't know if like if like non-Amish people, I don't know what they do it, like when when they like work, they do they like talk to each other and laugh and stuff.
	Yeah, they do uh I think a decent amount at a lot of jobs.
	Yeah, probably jobs that are more like if you're doing construction, things like that, contracting, things where you're building stuff, working together, where there's team opportunity, there's a lot of laughter, dude.
	Yeah, if you're just sitting at a desk by yourself, you're probably just losing your mind.
	Yeah, that would be that would be kind of sad, like being inside all day and you know, under the under the lights and stuff.
	Oh yeah.
	I think there's something that's kind of like it doesn't feel very human about it.
	No.
	Uh are there a lot of people on antidepressants and stuff that are Amish or no?
	Uh not that I know of.
	There might be like maybe everyone like here, here, and maybe way over there, but not that I know of.
	No.
	Do people seem depressed a lot or not really?
	Uh most of them don't.
	Most of them don't.
	But then you have you then you also have sometimes uh like people that are like what do you call those people that are like super depressed?
	Like sometimes they're like super depressed.
	Oh, um they're they're almost like they're almost like the water when it gets rough.
	They're like up and down a lot.
	Oh, bipolar, kind of yeah, bipolar.
	Like we sometimes like I know of a person that has that and uh like it's kind of crazy.
	Some studies have found Amish depression rates to be one fifth to one-tenth of mainstream society with strong family ties and community support side is protective factors.
	That's unbelievable.
	Yeah, one fifth to one tenth is insane, brother.
	That's like I mean, that's a huge difference.
	Yeah, strong family ties, robust social networks, work ethic, and especially religious faith are seen as major mental health protective factors.
	Um, you guys pray together a lot just with friends, like if you see them somewhere, where you is that a common practice?
	No, like like we we only do it like at the table.
	Got it.
	Like, but like I know some families do like pray more uh than we do.
	We we should probably do it more.
	Yeah, I think that's how we all feel.
	Yeah.
	Do you have Valentine's Day?
	Oh yeah, we have Valentine's Day at school.
	So what happens in Valentine's Day is uh at school, so when that happens, we basically we put like things on a paper and we put into a hat and then we mix it all up, and someone walks around with like and then you reach in and you pick out a name, and if you got that name, then that's your valent like your Valentine, you gotta s like switch lunch pails, and then you also have like send a Valentine with uh in with them.
	And can it be a boy or a girl?
	Yeah, it can be like either way.
	Got it.
	Yeah, so it's like nothing uh uh it's like it's probably way different from like uh from non-Amish in public schools, because I'm guessing like like non-Amish and public schools, it would have to be like uh like a boy and a girl, right?
	Yeah, but in y'all's culture it's just whatever.
	Yeah, yeah, it's it's crazy.
	And the way we do it is like just the main the reason we do it is uh mainly your friends, you give your friends the Valentine, and then you also switch like lunch pails, and then the moms will usually put something special in there, like an extra candy bar or uh my mom used to buy like those things from Walmart, those like big red hearts, and then send that with to her.
	Oh yeah, that's nice.
	Yeah, moms do that.
	Yeah, that's a nice thing.
	Yeah.
	Um what other holidays?
	Do you have Halloween?
	Uh no, we we uh we don't have Halloween, but I've had the before I went to Rome Spring uh the neighbors, uh our non-Amish neighbors, they pick me up and then then uh they put me like in a prison prison costume thing, like I at black and white stripes all over me, and like we went out and gathering candy.
	Like you just walk up to these people's houses and they have candy for you.
	I know.
	Yeah, it's it's crazy.
	Halloween's like really crazy, but a lot of them, a lot of lot of Amish like don't don't celebrate because like apparently that's like uh the occasion of like Halloween is like something to do with like the devil.
	I'm not quite sure.
	Yeah, I know what you're talking about.
	It's a pagan holiday.
	Yeah.
	Um some people like real scary stuff in the yard.
	They got like snakes and then these debt people with like skulls and stuff.
	Yeah, stuff hanging from trees, yeah, deceased adults and children.
	Yeah, they're like bone stuff.
	I don't know where they get the bones, so like dick them up or something.
	It's probably something.
	They probably had insider trading with some dog or something.
	Yeah.
	What is something that you want people to know about Amish people that are a view of them, or you think that's something that's incorrect before we get out of it?
	Like uh like a misconception.
	Yeah, yeah.
	So like the one of the biggest misconceptions I see all the time with like me being online and stuff.
	It's like crazy.
	Like all of all the stuff, like people say I'm not Amish, I don't do I don't do this way.
	Uh there's there's actually two misconceptions I can say.
	Like number one is like a lot of Amish kids, my age have like phones, like they hide it from their parents and stuff.
	And where it's like they have like they have like they have some electronics and stuff where they but they have to like keep it on the low and stuff.
	And what will they do?
	Bury it in a field somewhere where they hide it behind a hog or something.
	Like how do you guys like hide it in the barn, like the back of the bucky, sometimes in a culvert and hope it doesn't rain.
	Yeah, so that's one thing, like a lot of Amish have phones, and every pretty much every Amish that has a phone that's like my age, that's not for business and stuff, is like they have Snapchat.
	That's how we communicate.
	That's like our new new like messenger pitch and it's got underground railroad kind of.
	Yeah, it's underground railroad.
	I was thinking about you know, starting underground bucky races, but I first gotta dig the tunnel and stuff.
	Yeah, but like another misconception, you know, about them is just like uh what was it?
	Oh yeah, about me not being Amish because I've uh I have a phone.
	Uh that's because like another thing that's uh like huge, like really big, because like there's Amish in movies, and they're always they always turn on the butter, yeah, and basically living without electricity.
	Now there's so many, there's so many different like Amish.
	Cause like what you hear from me, like from where I came from, is it will not be the same from an Amish in Indiana, Ohio, or like Pennsylvania.
	It's it's there's so many different ones, like little different branches of it.
	Yeah, lots of different branches.
	And I I would I would say like there's not a single community that's like exactly the same.
	There's always little bit of rules, and there's so many different branches of it where they wear bit bit different clothes, bit different hats, do things a bit differently.
	Because I've had people say, like, this is not Amish, and then uh they like write a detailed description, but I guess they they probably don't know better that there's like lots of different ones because there's there's like lots of speechy, Schwarzen Trooper, New Order, Old Order.
	There's there's so many different branches.
	Yeah, yeah, it's like so.
	When the Anabaptists became a thing, they basically got they were like a minority for a little bit.
	Have you ever seen Back to the Future?
	No.
	Dang, boy.
	What?
	Is that what's that?
	I think you would like it.
	And I think it's a pro I think it's something that is Amish appropriate.
	I don't think it's too crazy.
	Okay.
	I think you could handle it.
	So have you ever seen Family Man with Nicolas Cage?
	No.
	Do you know who Nicolas Cage is?
	Uh I'm not even quite sure.
	Wow.
	Wow.
	So this these are like movies and stuff.
	Yeah.
	Oh wow.
	Family Man's one of my favorites, dude.
	So what what's that about?
	It's about this guy, and he's very like rich and fancy and stuff.
	Yeah.
	And then one day he kind of uh something happens where he goes back into his life like 20 years earlier, yeah.
	And he makes a different decision to stay with a girl that he was in love with instead of leaving.
	He goes like back in time.
	Yeah, he goes back in time, like he doesn't realize that he falls asleep.
	It's on Christmas, he falls asleep on Christmas Eve, and he wakes up and he's back in a different life he'd had he would have had if he had made a different choice to stay in love instead of to go for um like uh the big job and the fancy apartment.
	Oh, he went for the money over people.
	He went for the money over people and he had a choice.
	And he goes back in time, and now suddenly he wakes up and he's in a house with this lady that was in love with, and but Now they have like two kids and they like they don't live in like he was living on like this fancy downtown place with like a butler and somebody that would like chew your gum for you and just tell you what it would taste like.
	You don't even have to chew it.
	Wow.
	That rich.
	That that's like super rich.
	That's too much.
	Yeah, it is.
	I'll chew my own gum.
	You know what I'm saying?
	I'll I want to chew my own gum, you know, drink my own water.
	Yeah.
	Yeah, stuff like that.
	Yeah, for sure.
	I want to at least do that.
	Let me do at least the low b low-hanging fruit.
	Yeah.
	But anyway, um, so then he gets that experience, and then one day he wakes back up and he's back in his original life.
	Yeah.
	And he hates it.
	And so he le he drives off from his original life to go find the girl and see what's going on.
	And um, and then you figure out what happens from there.
	Wow, that's that's crazy.
	Almost sounds like that almost when he went back in time and stuff, like, or like twist like what happened would have happened if you would have like stayed with that girl.
	That's almost like uh that's almost like me, like deciding if I want to, you know, stay Amish or you know, leave the Amish.
	So yeah, it's like a rum springer.
	Yeah, it's like really hard decision.
	Yeah.
	What factors do you think will go into you choosing?
	What do you think are good factors to help you decide or do you think about that?
	Uh I think it's uh what what I'll what I'll what I will all see from like the outside world, and like I'll probably compare the two and see you know which one I like.
	You know, I I like the Amish lifestyle of food and all that stuff is good.
	Like the only things right now that I don't like too much at the rules a little bit.
	Oh, yeah.
	Yeah, but that's what rumspring is for you to break them.
	Get out there and break them, but yeah.
	Do you have any plans to go to any special events coming up while you're on rum springer?
	Any football games, anything like that?
	Uh, the only special event I've coming up is actually this weekend.
	I'm gonna go go in a plane for the first time.
	Wow.
	Yeah, and jump out of it.
	No, really, yeah, yeah.
	I'm gonna like because like let's say something goes wrong when you're landing.
	So I want to like be off the plane, you know, when it's up in the air.
	Yeah, and go for sure.
	And go skydiving.
	Dude, that's gonna be sick of you geek.
	I I'm like really excited.
	So this week is I think this is a week I'll never forget.
	Wow.
	Really, really crazy.
	So yeah, no one no one knows this.
	I haven't told anyone.
	And so I won't say anything, yeah.
	It's it's crazy.
	Let's go skydiving.
	It's cool for the first time.
	But I think don't they like put like they like strap a person on the back of it?
	Put a guy on you, yeah.
	I just tell him you're not interested before you guys jump.
	Yeah.
	Just say, look.
	I'm not interested.
	Yeah.
	I'm here for the jump.
	I'm here for the champ only, yeah.
	Just us you.
	I don't want him getting any ideas.
	Yeah, no ideas at all.
	Yeah.
	Like when we land, it's over.
	Yeah, right.
	That's what that's what the plan is.
	And because I was thinking, I was talking to my co-world athlete.
	I was thinking, you know, that would be a really crazy story.
	You know, the first airplane right you ever go into, you just decided, you know.
	I don't want to.
	I just gotta chime out, you know.
	I'm out of here.
	I'm out of here.
	Yeah.
	So it'll be the first plane you've ever been in, and then you're out of it.
	I'm out of it.
	Yeah.
	And then like, like same way with a podcast.
	I decided, you know, the first podcast I ever be on would be Theo Von's, because you're a pretty cool dude.
	Well, thank you, dude.
	I think you are too, man.
	I'm really intrigued by you guys' lifestyle.
	I think I learned a decent amount about it today.
	Yeah.
	You know, there probably could have been some other avenues about it that I could have asked about.
	Yeah.
	Um, but I appreciate you coming, bro.
	I really do.
	I appreciate you inviting me.
	And I admire you guys having a unique culture.
	I I think there's a lot of people in the world where they're trying to get back to the roots of their culture and things that matter and mean something.
	So I almost feel like you guys are already there in some ways.
	Yeah, some ways, yeah.
	And like it, it uh like some people uh it feels like it's like not grounded anymore to family and stuff, you know.
	Like they're just just uh doing like really crazy stuff.
	But like if you're like if you touch grass every day, you know, like you're outside every day, and like I'm outside all the time.
	That's why I'm like so dark, almost look Mexican, but I'm not.
	But yeah, like and it's really crazy.
	Well, I appreciate it a lot for you inviting me.
	This is a really crazy experience coming out here to town and then me sleeping 10 stories up 10 stories.
	I know that's like the first time I've ever seen it.
	So you're in a hotel that's really high?
	Yeah.
	You never done that?
	No, I haven't.
	What?
	So and it's like my first time ever like staying in a big city like this.
	So it's it's it's uh I'll never forget it.
	That's awesome.
	Yeah.
	Well, good man.
	Uh Timothy, I appreciate it, man.
	Thank you so much, dude, for your time.
	Thanks for coming out to my show and uh and yeah, just thanks for being here with us and helping us learn, brother.
	I appreciate it, dude.
	All right, thanks for my hat too, dude.
	Dude, I that's the least I could do.
	It was nice.
	And when I get close to them, come by for some coffee soup, all right?
	Yes, sir.
	With meat.
	Yes.
	You got it.
	All right.
	Now I'm just falling on the breeze, and I feel I'm falling like these leaves.
	I must be cornerstone.

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