Plain background people in Lancaster who don't seem to be aware other places exist.

[Soloist]

My family has been mentioned at least twice in the budget and it’s horrified me every time.

[Southerner]

My family has been mentioned at least twice in the budget and it’s horrified me every time.

"Horrified"???

Are you hiding something!

[JohnH]

Thankfully, most Holdemans escape mention in the Budget unless you have a great deal of Swiss connections, and my immediate family is quite proud to have exactly zero Swiss Brethren or Amish ancestry.

[Praxis+Theodicy]

One of the more amusing things about plain people from the Lancaster area are ones who seemingly have no awareness that people live in other places. Some of these people are now getting on Telegram groups since their church rules allow them to do so, and a large squad of them joined some groups that were formerly just Holdemans (primarily in Holdeman areas, which is not Lancaster).

So a person asks about car washes... and the person recommends a car wash in Lancaster.

Someone asks where to get some kind of fabric related thing. List of places to go in Lancaster.

It's simply quaint to see someone so provincial.

It sounds like they were probably aware that "people live in other places", but were unaware that the Telegram group they joined was unrestricted to any specific geographical region. They are probably used to media that is published to a locality (like local newspapers, published public forums, Cragslist, etc.) There are even several ways of communicating, (apps like NextDoor and BuyNothing, and even some facebook groups) that are designed to allow participants only from a specific locality. If I was joining a new platform after being used to locally-published user forums, and someone asked for carwash recommendations, I could likely assume that I had joined a group chat for people in my immediate vicinity.

[JohnH]

One of the more amusing things about plain people from the Lancaster area are ones who seemingly have no awareness that people live in other places. Some of these people are now getting on Telegram groups since their church rules allow them to do so, and a large squad of them joined some groups that were formerly just Holdemans (primarily in Holdeman areas, which is not Lancaster).

So a person asks about car washes... and the person recommends a car wash in Lancaster.

Someone asks where to get some kind of fabric related thing. List of places to go in Lancaster.

It's simply quaint to see someone so provincial.

It sounds like they were probably aware that "people live in other places", but were unaware that the Telegram group they joined was unrestricted to any specific geographical region. They are probably used to media that is published to a locality (like local newspapers, published public forums, Cragslist, etc.) There are even several ways of communicating, (apps like NextDoor and BuyNothing, and even some facebook groups) that are designed to allow participants only from a specific locality. If I was joining a new platform after being used to locally-published user forums, and someone asked for carwash recommendations, I could likely assume that I had joined a group chat for people in my immediate vicinity.

There was absolutely nothing about the group to imply it was regional. You also had to join the group by getting invited by someone else in it.

I think certain plain people (and ex plain) are just barely in consideration that humans even exist outside of their own spheres.

[Wesleyb]

. . . my immediate family is quite proud to have exactly zero Swiss Brethren or Amish ancestry.

It seems every group has another group they look down on and are proud not to be connected to. In the church I grew up in it was Old Order Mennonites. Many members had come from those groups, or parents or grandparents had, so they had their own grievances. We saw ignorance, questionable theology, "works religion", inconsistent and silly rules and pride in their church being the only right way. Looking back, I realize we had just as many problems, some of them were even the same ones maybe expressed a bit differently. Also, to use a programming analogy, some of the things we looked down on may have been features not bugs. It's an attitude I'm trying to eliminate from my thinking.

[Soloist]

My family has been mentioned at least twice in the budget and it’s horrified me every time.

"Horrified"???

Are you hiding something!

Well I can’t tell you, but I hate my photo being taken too. It’s idolatry of course.

[Szdfan]

. . . my immediate family is quite proud to have exactly zero Swiss Brethren or Amish ancestry.

It seems every group has another group they look down on and are proud not to be connected to. In the church I grew up in it was Old Order Mennonites. Many members had come from those groups, or parents or grandparents had, so they had their own grievances. We saw ignorance, questionable theology, "works religion", inconsistent and silly rules and pride in their church being the only right way. Looking back, I realize we had just as many problems, some of them were even the same ones maybe expressed a bit differently. Also, to use a programming analogy, some of the things we looked down on may have been features not bugs. It's an attitude I'm trying to eliminate from my thinking.

I agree that there’s often an arrogance among Lancaster County Mennonites and Amish that I find irritating. What makes me uneasy about this thread is that the comments laughing at Lancaster are just as arrogant. I agree with Wesley that our primary response should be self-examination, especially when we’re sure of ourselves.