Ironies

A couple of ironies for you.

I updated my facebook status last week. Yes, I have a facebook status. And I check it regularly, thank you very much for asking.

Anyway. I was initially listed as single and available -- or so my wife told me. On her... suggestion, I changed my status to married. I saw the other blanks for such things as "favorite movie," "favorite book," and so on. It asked my religion and when I started typing "Christian," (because I'm a Christian). It tried to auto-fill "Christian-Amish."

If you are not aware, the Amish sect is (I believe) a break off from the Baptists, originally called the anibaptists.  This was way, way back, and done because of the liberal theology of the baptists. The Amish (basically) adhere to a lifestyle that prohibits them from owning certain machinery, having electricity in their homes, and encourages farming as the true calling of Christ. There are different off-shoots. Some drive cars but paint the bumpers black. Most ride in horse-drawn buggies, but some have buggies with rubber wheels, while others feel those Amish are going to hell because of their new-fangled rims. 

While many think Amish are backwards because of their lifestyle, those people would be wrong. I've seen an Amish farmer fix a tractor that the owner could not. I've seen an Amish teenager pick up a friend's cell phone and use it to call for a ride. If you live in the right area (Branson, MS) you've probably seen Amish taking vacations in vans or buses to get away from the cattle, corn and wheat for a while.

And the Amish are avid library patrons. I'm guessing that many use the public computers there. I've seen families who own pay phones attached to a pole in their front yard. They could own them -- just couldn't have them in their homes. So I can understand that they may be plugged in to the Internet. But all the same, I'm curious how many Amish are on facebook.

As for my Wiki-like history of the Amish, it is based on a book I read about three years ago. If there are any errors (or you're Amish and just don't like my tone) feel free to comment.

As for the second irony, a little less fun. We are now residents of Ohio. Unemployed residents who are applying for unemployment checks. The irony is, the process is taking so long, that I've had to put off calls to potential employers and recruiters. I might be able to get to some of them Tuesday afternoon, depending on how everything goes tomorrow.