Breaking Amish (non)Reality TV?

Breaking Amish is a reality based program that follows the lives of one Mennonite and four Amish people who leave their respective communities for life in New York.  A Facebook page was created that claims the show is not telling the truth.

Christian Post wrote, " one claim is that Kate, an Amish bishop's daughter, sent photos to a modelling agency..... For the Amish, photography of any sort is deemed a sin, as it promotes vanity.  If the claims were true, Kate would surely have been punished, possibly shunned for her behaviour".  The New York Daily News and others, reported there have been misrepresentations by the shows participants and possibly by TLC (The Learning Channel) itself.  As a result, the show has removed the phrase "leaving the community for the first time" and replace it with a statement that they all have left (their communities) before the show.  TLC also released the following statement, "There is a lot of information floating around about the group on 'Breaking Amish.'  Much of it is not truth, but some of it is--and is addressed in upcoming episodes."

I've only watched one of the two shows that aired. I'm not sure if I'll spend any more time trying to figure out truth from Hollywood style exaggerations.  I guess I can continue watching or satisfy my curiosity about these communities, by reading about Rumspringa  instead.  Either way, it's a fascinating topic.

  

Mom's Old Clothesline

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES: 

• You had to hang the socks by the toes... not the top. 
• You hung pants by the bottom or cuffs... not the waistbands. 
• You had to wash the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes - walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines. 
• You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first. 
• You never hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail! What would the neighbors think? 
• Wash day was on a Monday! Never hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday, for Heaven's sake!
• Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines so you could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle ( to keep them out of sight from the perverts & neighbourhood busybodies) 
• It didn't matter if it was sub-zero weather... clothes would "freeze-dry."  but they would 'thaw' and then still be wet after we had them inside awhile)
• Always gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky"! 
• If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item. 
• Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed. 
• Ironed???!! Well, that's a whole OTHER subject! 

There is one thing that's left out. We had a long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push the clotheslines up so that longer items (sheets/pants/etc.) didn't brush the ground and get dirty.

Actual Passport Letter

This apparently is an actual letter received by the UK passport office.

Dear Sirs,

I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this.

How is it that Sky Television has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a bleeding satellite dish from them back in 1977, and yet, the Government is still asking me where I was bloody born and on what date.

For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand? My birth date you have on my pension book, and it is on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years.    It is on my National Health card, my driving license, my car insurance,  and on the last eight damn passports I've had and on all those stupid customs declaration  forms I've had to fill out before being   allowed off the plane over the last 30 years,  and all those insufferable census forms.

Would somebody please take note, once  and for all, that my mother's name is Mary Anne,  my father's name is Robert and I'd be absolutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I  die!!!!!!

I apologise, I'm really pissed off this morning.  Between you an' me, I've had enough of this bullshit! You post the application to my house, THEN you ask me for my bloody address!!!!

What is going on??  Do you have a gang of Neanderthals working there?

Look at my damn picture.  Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for Christ sakes.

I just want to go and park my arse on some sandy beach somewhere. 

And would someone please tell me, why would you give a toss whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days?  If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, you'd be the last people I'd want to tell!

Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the poxy city to get another bloody copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of £30.

Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day??   Nooooooooooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe make sense.    You'd rather have us running all over the sodden place like chickens with our heads cut off.

Then I have to find some idiot to confirm that it's really me on the damn picture - you know,  the one where we're not allowed to smile?!   (bureaucratic morons).

Hey, do you know why we couldn't smile if  we wanted to?  Because we're totally pissed off!

Signed

An Irate Citizen.

P.S.  Remember what I said above about the picture and getting someone to confirm that it's me?    Well, my family has been in this country since 1776 ...... I have served in the military for over 30 years and have had full security clearances over 25 of those years enabling me to undertake highly secretive missions all over the  world.   However, I have to get someone 'important'   to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor –

WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN BLOODY PAKISTAN   !!

Comments Made in 1955

"I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $10.00"

"I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies anymore.  

Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it."

"Have you seen the new cars coming out next year?  It won't be long before $2,000 will only buy a used one"

" If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'll be forced to quit. Twenty cents per pack is ridiculous!"

"Did you hear?   The post office is thinking about charging seven cents just to mail a letter!"

"If they raise the minimum wage to a dollar, nobody will be able to hire outside help for their stores"

"When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 25 cents a gallon.  We're better off leaving the car in the garage!"

"I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas ."

"Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $50,000 a year just to play ball?  It wouldn't surprise me if someday they make more than the President"

"I never thought I would see the day when all our kitchen appliances would be electric.  They're even making electric typewriters now!"

"It's too bad things are so tough nowadays.  I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet"

"It won't be long before young couple are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work."

"The fast food restaurant is convenient for a quick meal but I seriously doubt the idea will catch on!"

How to tell the gender of a bird

Until now I never fully understood how to tell the difference between male and female birds. I always thought it had to be determined surgically. 

 

Until Now! 

Below are two birds. Study them closely and see if you can spot which of the two is the female.
It can be done!  Even by one with limited bird watching skills.

A Rabbi Hears Confession

A Priest in a small town was called away for an emergency on a Sunday afternoon while he was about to hear confessions. Not wanting to leave the confessional unattended, and having no one else to assist him he called his Rabbi friend from across the street and asked him to cover for him.  The Rabbi told him he wouldn't know what to say or do. The Priest told him to come over and he'd stay with him for a little bit to show him what to do.  The Rabbi dutifully came over. The Rabbi and the Priest were in the confessional working out the details. 

A few minutes later, a woman came in and said, "Father, forgive me for I have sinned." 
The priest asked, "What did you do?" 
The woman said, "I committed adultery." 
Priest: "How many times?" 
Woman: "Three times." 
Priest: "Say two Hail Mary,s, put five dollars in the donation box, go and sin no more." 

A few minutes later a man entered the confessional. He said, "Father, forgive me for I have sinned."
Priest: "What did you do?" 
Man: "I committed adultery." 
Priest: "How many times?" 
Man: "Three times." 
Priest: "Say two Hail Mary's, put five dollars in the box, go and sin no more." 

The Rabbi told the Priest that he thought he understood the procedure, so the Priest left. 
A few minutes later another woman entered and said, "Father forgive me 
for I have sinned." 
Rabbi: "What did you do?" 
Woman: "I committed adultery." 
Rabbi: "How many times?" 
Woman: "Once." 
Rabbi: "Go do it two more times. We have a special this week, three  for five dollars!"