While speeding down 472 (yes I was breaking the law on Sunday) I suddenly had to immediately hit my breaks as I came up behind a white passenger van. However, this was no ordinary Dodge 1500, this was an Amish taxi.
A little insight for you non-LC (Lancaster County) residents: There’s this ultra conservative group of people that live here in LC and they are known as the Amish. They are as mysterious as they are confusing. Intriguing as they are annoying. Some people are drawn to them – seriously I can’t believe the masses that make the pilgrimage here simply to see and smell the Amish up close and personal. Usually the Amish travel via horse and buggy, scooter, or walking but sometimes, when they’re feeling extra worldly they load themselves up into the classic white (or navy blue) passenger van. My friend’s parents use to taxi the Amish for a small fee. They’d go pick them up, drive them to their desired destination and then later jockey them back to the farm.
So there I am following the Dodge van, knowing right away it was an Amish taxi and it wasn’t because I could easily spot about 8 or 9 straw hats through the back window. You always know when you’re following an Amish taxi because of one thing and that’s the speed of the van. Even though they aren’t using the buggy, they’re still going the same speed as it which causes so much confusion and frustration to me and many other LC non-Amish inhabitants.
I mean this group of Amish people (or hey it may have been just one family) have pulled some money together and hired someone to come pick them up and drive them to church that day. They are choosing to leave the buggy at home – and yet the van doesn’t break 5mph? Is the driver nervous that the sudden change from normal travel speed is going to cause motion sickness to his passengers as they look out the window and see telephone poles whizzing by? Does the driver not realize that they were most likely hired because these people were running late and hence opted out of the buggy because they had a need for speed that day?
Obviously it’s much harder to pass a D1500 than a buggy. Plus no one else seemed to realize it was an Amish taxi so no one was passing the van. Therefore I arrived at church 10 minutes late. But that’s okay – the person doing the morning announcements was taking their jolly ole time so I didn’t miss much.
