# "Amish in the City" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280 "2004-07-28T15:46:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/41 "2004-07-29T18:57:33Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > but the _camera crew who was swimming with them_ was hardly going to let him drown. Right. And in the unlikely event they didn’t lift a finger to help him, there were still the lifeguards on duty. Meagan == “Slutty, alcohol-drenched ultimate party girl.” Check. So it’s Kevan who’s left as the all-around straight man, the foil to Nick’s complete assholery. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/42 "2004-07-29T20:25:00Z")
> [@](#): > > If cows are aliens, shouldn’t we be eating them to stop them from taking over the planet? Brilliant! ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/43 "2004-07-29T20:32:36Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I would like the record to show that (in accordance with TV law article 5 section 2 paragraph 40) Kevin Hill, as played by Taye Diggs, should be my baby daddy. [hijack] I went to college with Taye Diggs. Seriously. I actually met him. And he is just as fine a person as his is _foine_ a man. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/44 "2004-07-29T20:56:25Z")
> [@rockle](#): > > [hijack] > I went to college with Taye Diggs. Seriously. I actually met him. And he is just as fine a person as his is _foine_ a man. > [/hijack] Yeah, I see him and his wife (the gorgeous Tony-award winning Idina Menzel) around town sometimes. He’s definitely a looker 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/45 "2004-07-29T22:06:40Z")
Everyone’s already said what I would have said. I just think at least the gay guy and the black girl would have been a little more, you know… tolerant, maybe? I felt so bad when they opened the door and the City Kids just laughed at them. Anyone know what they (the City Kids) thought the actual set-up for the show was? Obviously, none of them were expecting Amish Kids to show up. Did they think it was a Real Life type of thing? I loved Ruth’s reaction to the ocean, and everyone’s reaction to the city skyline from the rooftop. The Amish Kids came out looking pretty good. The City Kids just looked like self-centered assholes. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/46 "2004-07-29T22:09:38Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Did they think it was a Real Life type of thing? Oops, not Real Life, I meant “Real World” or whatever it is on MTV. ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/47 "2004-07-29T23:07:36Z")
> [@DeVena](#): > > I only watched the first 30 minutes. The city people were just too mean. I have enough ugliness in my life; I don’t have to waste my time watching it on TV. Hear, hear! I lasted about 15 mins. And I saw the ocean segment and was bored, not moved. [/poop] ---
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/48 "2004-07-30T17:35:25Z")
Didn’t anyone notice that Ruth was smoking a cigarette by the end of the episode? ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/49 "2004-07-30T20:03:06Z")
Well, I was only momentarily befuddled by their ease with makeup, clothing, and other “English” things. I quickly assumed that all of them (except maybe Mose) had already experienced Rumspringa to some extent. The only reason they were so plain upon showing up to the house is that the producers wanted to full shock-effect for the city kids. Incidentally, I hadn’t seen the ocean until I was 20. Unlike Ruth, however, I’d seen it on TV a lot. I feel like Whitney’s the odd duck. She’s the youngest, and the least privileged, and least experienced with being out in the world. She seems quite unlike the other characters. I think Jonas is intriguing. Looks like a dumb farm boy, probably smart as a whip. I like how he has no problem confronting the others. I find myself praying for an earthquake or something, so the show can go all post-apocalyptic with the Amish kids saving everyone because they can sew clothes, husband animals, grow food, put up preserves… ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/50 "2004-07-31T05:25:52Z")
I just caught the repeat tonight. I assumed I was going to hate the show, but was surprised that I didn’t. Everyone has pretty much covered what I thought, but regarding the city kids being cruel - I can remember my first year at college how the farm kids and the city kids reacted to each other. It wasn’t pretty at first and took awhile before some friendships were made. So considering the ages of the kids on this show, it isn’t all that far off the mark. ---
**Author:** ![International\_Playboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/48db29/32.png) [@International\_Playboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/International_Playboy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/51 "2004-07-31T19:00:16Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Randy > Mose > > I don’t want to derail the thread into a theological debate. But, that bothered me. I wished he’d phrased that more clearly. Does he believe that any one who is Amish and leaves the community goes to hell? Or is he saying that being Amish is the only way to heaven? I read in the recap of the first show on Reality News Online that Amish kids aren’t baptised until they become adults. A lot of Christian sects believe you won’t go to Heaven if you aren’t baptized. As for Mose though, I also read there that he is a bit older than the other Amish participants and is already a member of the church. Maybe when they have their fling in the civillian world, they renunciate the church for the time being. I hate the city kids, the vegan and gay guy in particular. Not that there’s anything wrong with being gay, but I hate the in your face types. I hate any type of in your face behavior. Some of the things that come out of the vegan’s mouth are at least as offensive as she claims animal products are. On the other hand, even though I’m a heathen with Hindu leanings, I really like the Amish kids, especially Mose. As someone else mentioned, the sense of wonder and awe the Amish people give off is what makes the show for me. I was sorry to see that our local UPN station pre-empted the rerun on Friday of Wednesday’s show it for baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/52 "2004-07-31T20:10:46Z")
> [@Roadfood](#): > > In addition to their language, there’s the one Amish girl who clearly had had lots of practice at putting on makeup. And the one (maybe the same one?) who was totally comfortable going out in public in a miniskirt and tight tank top, and also in a rather small bikini. She also has a very nice tan and I saw no visible tan lines, even when she was wearing that itty bitty bikini. :eek: That definitely makes me think she’s more ‘worldly’ than we might at first expect. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/53 "2004-07-31T22:21:05Z")
My impression from the concersation she had in the car with Randy is that she and him have known each other (in the biblical sense.). I also have an idea that the amish kids are being coached. It seems a bit off and odd to me. b.t.w.- Most Amish around here (Ohio) have Swiss origins. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/54 "2004-08-01T10:32:37Z")
> [@International Playboy](#): > > I read in the recap of the first show on Reality News Online that Amish kids aren’t baptised until they become adults. A lot of Christian sects believe you won’t go to Heaven if you aren’t baptized. A lot of denominations don’t baptize until at least an age of majority, and that includes the largest protestant group — the Baptists. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280/55 "2004-08-01T14:02:56Z")
A lot of people have mentioned Ruth’s first-time-seeing-the-ocean moment, and yeah it was pretty touching. But there was also a scene where Ruth was really impressed with an art gallery. She walked in, looked around, asked questions - it was a pretty cool moment. I think the producers could have done more with that scene. Maybe buy the house some art supplies to see what the Amish kids could come up with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-in-the-city/257280.md?page=2)