Have I mentioned our habitual QT problem?

The other day we caught a,… (wagon full?) – of Amish, (or similarly faith-based technologically-resistant culture) – during one of our damn near daily dashes for ice.

Now I’m a fairly tech-savvy middle aged suburban white-guy,… But the modernity of a WALL of slushy machines and 50-yard stretch of glowing coolers full of food that’s just a few keystrokes on a microwave away from enjoyment? THAT is the futuristic epitome of convenience.

Now consider Amish type folks… Their lifestyle is purposefully *in*convenient.

So I caught myself standing there stunned by the contrast as one of the younger men contemplated the auto shake machine.

I caught my gaze lingering too long and reflexively diverted my eyes and went about filling my mug with soda poison.

Nobody looked at them… and there was like 12 of them.. You couldn’t miss em!

When we got outside Chad commented about how odd it is that we’re conditioned to “not stare” if we see something out of the ordinary. He looked directly at one of the women… she looked him squarely back in the eyes… and smiled.

This made me wonder what’s more rude…

To stare?

Or to act like someone doesn’t exist.

… or worse… to chicken.