Last week I learned of a TV show that I REALLY wanted to watch. The premiere was Sunday night. I watched all of the clips on the website which was a mistake. It just made me want to watch even more.
Friday night I said to my husband, “Sometimes, I wish we had cable. But it’s probably a good thing that we don’t.” His quizzical look is common when I make statements like that. I followed up with, “There’s a new show called ‘Breaking Amish’ that I want to see but we don’t have that channel.”
We don’t have any channels. We have rabbit ears on our TV and sometimes the local channels come in and sometimes they don’t. It doesn’t normally bother me except when Santa is getting ready to come in the Macy’s Day Parade and the “digital signal strength is too low.”
If you don’t have rabbit ears, you have no idea that your TV does this. It’s the new static.
But I was intrigued by Breaking Amish. The same way that I was intrigued by ‘Sister Wives.’ I have a fascination with learning how other people live because it’s different to me. (I can’t believe I just admitted that I watched ‘Sister Wives’ but I did. 18 episodes which was 2 seasons.
It’s not that I condoned multiple wives, but the reality is, there are people that live that way in the world, and I was fascinated by how they did this. And I had questions. Part of the reason I kept watching was because I formed questioned and I wanted them answered. I figured the more I watched, these questions would be answered. For the most part, that’s true.
And I’ve also admitted to several, that if you take away the fact that they are living with multiple wives, it was a family situation that we should all aspire to be like.
Now, I need you to NOT take that out of context.
But, the father made sure they spent time together as a family, he spent time with the kids. The mothers all had their roles and their faith led their home. But then dude decided that he needed another wife and that he should tell the world that he was living an illegal lifestyle — and had to run from the law and then the kids’ lives were turned upside down.
That’s when I stopped watching.
Seasons 3 & 4 are on Amazon but I’m not paying to watch it.
A gal has her limits.
I say this because I think we have a curiosity of how the rest of the world, the rest of the world being everyone different from us, lives. This could be people who live across the country with multiple wives. This could be people who live less than five miles away from my home who chose the route of living off the government.
Or it could be these five people from Amish and Mennonite communities in Pennsylvania and Ohio who are contemplating leaving their communities for New York City.
Episode one was on the website last night. I made sure that I got everything I needed to do, done and then plopped myself on the bed, laptop in hand to watch the premiere. Much of it were the clips that I had watched last week, but I was fascinated by not only their feelings about their community but their reasons for wanting to leave. Their struggle with whether they should go, risking everything they know and being shunned, or whether they should stay and, in essence, be misreable for the rest of their lives is something I can somewhat relate to… but NOT on that level.
But it led to it’s own set of questions/observations — to the point where I jotted them down as I was watching.
- You can tell these kids (and I say kids, even though they are all over 18, but they seem not as worldly because… well DUH.. they aren’t!) are struggling with this — but they all packed their Bible. It’s not God, I feel, they are trying to escape. It’s the lifestyle they lead. However, based on the previews for next week, it’s that lifestyle that is holding them close to God because I’m pretty sure, based on what I think is going to happen, they are going to lose that… and quickly. But isn’t that something even those who aren’t Amish or Mennonite struggle with?
- I would consider luggage with wheels a modern convenience and it looked like Jeremiah (or ABE – I get them confused) had tags on his luggage as if he had flown before. Rebecca was the only one that had a suitcase that looked like it came from the Amish. And speaking of traveling….
- Kate, the Bishop’s daughter, got kicked out of the house because she got caught talking on camera. She headed to Florida to live with some other Amish that she knows there. How did she get there? Clearly not the horse and buggy.
- And once there, she got her license and a DUI. If you’re with other Amish and they don’t believe in cars, why get your license?
- And once there, how did she end up drinking if she was with her AMish-drinking-is-a-sin friends?
- When Jeremiah was telling his girlfriend of almost two years, the gal that had discussed marriage with him, why does he speak in English and she in PA Dutch?
- Moreover, why in the world did he think she was going to be okay with him going off to NYC?
- AND… here’s the big one for me. These boys stop going to school (or so they say) after the 8th grade. If they leave everything they know and head to NYC – clearly, at some point in time, the money from the network runs out and they will need to get a job and support himself. What kind of life do they think they are going to have with an 8th grade education? I’m just baffled by this.
But then again, I was raised different and keep telling myself that I have NO IDEA what it’s like in their communities and shouldn’t judge. I’m sure there are people that look at me and decisions that I made and say, “What in the world is she thinking?”
So there you have it. I’m hoping that TLC continue to put Breaking Amish online the day after it airs. They didn’t with Sister Wives. I had to wait until those two seasons showed up on Netflix…
But we’ll see.
So there you have it… my one guilty pleasure…
Until next time…
