Inside an Amish Home: Attitude Adjustors

How do Amish folks maintain such a calm demeanor?  Well, while poking around my friend’s library, I think I came across the secret.  Attitude Adjustors:

attitude adjustors amish remedy

This innocent box just happened to be lying there on the shelf (within easy reach of a work desk, a stack of bills and other scary-looking papers, I might add).

It seems Attitude Adjustors come standard in Amish homes.  The best part:  Attitude Adjustors work on ages 4 to 104 (and nevermind the menacing “FOR ADULT USE ONLY” warning on the box.  They’re perfectly safe for children).

attitude adjustors box

Attitudes get out of whack.  Such is life.  No matter your creed, color or culture.  So this is a remedy no home should be without.  Just what’s inside the box, you might be wondering?

attitude adjustors amish candy

As you can see, Attitude Adjustors come in butterscotch, cinnamon, and all manner of tasty flavors.  My friend says he doesn’t need Attitude Adjustors too often, but when he needs them, he needs them.  Hear, hear.  Looks like he’s about due for a fresh box.

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    25 Comments

    1. Richard

      growing -up In my old neighborhood of New York city, the only attitude adjusters that i knew was called a baseball bat. Luckily i was born with fast legs at the time so my contact with it was very rare. Maybe that’s why i can never watch a baseball game again, at least when I’m not running. Richard from Pennsylvania

    2. Helen

      ha!

      Great post, I have enjoyed bubblegum offerings here in OK, works great 😉

    3. Osiah Horst

      Attitude Adjuster

      Amish and Mennonites are not necessarily as calm as their demeanor might suggest. One English woman who taught school in our parochial school thought Mannonites never show any emotions. Then she was invited to attend an ordination service at our local Mennonite meeting house. This is considered a very serious occasion, where the lot is used to select a new minister or deacon. Every candidate would consider himself unworty of the office which is for the person’s lifetime. Many tears are shed in the course of the service – not because it is so sad but because this will be a life changing experience for the family affected. We are trained to hide or control our emotions but even anger is not an unknown emotion, especially at times of church problems. The plain people are often referred to as “the quiet in the land” but Fred Kniss suggests that it is otherwise in his book “Disquiet in the Land” where he studies church splits. Emotions are usually involved at these times.

    4. Alice Aber

      Greetings!

      I think everyone has emotions, some just hide them better than others. But we ALL get upset or angry, whether plain or not.

      What I would like to know is where do you get a box of “Attitude Adjusters” that looks like that?? I think that is a neat idea and would not mind having a box or two sitting on my shelf, LOL.

      Blessings, Alice

    5. Osiah very interesting and certainly so. This was on the tongue in cheek side of things and i think the calm demeanor is a stereotype with many examples pointing in the opposite direction. I have heard discussion on whether hiding emotions is in the long run healthy. I think it has come up in Old Order circles as well.

    6. I have heard the comment from parishioners that I seemed to always maintain a calm, cool attitude in the face of disaster, but I made sure the same parishioners weren’t around when I was shearing sheep or trying to catch them. They also never had the opportunity to see me let one of my sons know just how I felt.

      Attitude ADjustors in the Anglican Church take the form of bottles of 12 year old brown liquids. Adults only.

      Osiah, tears at ordination are common across denominations. We call them holy tears.

    7. Paula

      A very charming post! You had me in suspense and delivered some chuckles.

      Thank you! I think we all have stashes of “attitude adjustors” around the home (can you say milk chocolate?)

    8. Alice a good question.Will ask my buddy. It might take a secretive under the table transaction in the back of the dry goods store to obtain this kind of contraband. Will report back 😉

      Paula glad you liked it. My top attitude adjustor is usually coffee.

    9. Magdalena maybe the sheep need attitude adjustors of their own 🙂

      Richard I cannot watch a baseball game either but because of the sheer boredom. So I feel doubly bad for you. I hope you never had your attitude adjusted in one of those NYC baseball races.

    10. Tamara

      The mind is a funny thing. When I first looked into the box, I didn’t see candy. I was trying to determine what sort of “old order” discipline tool was in there! After reading the caption, all I can see is candy. Weird.

      1. Jessie

        I thought there would be cards with Biblical sayings on them about different emotions. Boy, was I surprised to find that there was candy in there! Which is great, of course. Everyone needs a little sweet every once in a while, no matter how old you are. I would also put milk or dark chocolate in there. Yum!

        1. Sometimes the solution to a bad attitude is less higher power, more sugar high 😉

    11. Alice Mary

      You made my day!

      I could have used (like Paula suggests) a milk chocolate attitude adjustor this morning when I popped a button just as I was rushing out the door to work (I sure hope “Attitude Adjustors” are good for 24/7 use)!

      You gave me a good idea, though, for our candy jar at work. I think I’ll make an appropriate label for it, and see if it empties sooner rather than later!

      (Magdalena’s “remedy” sounds good, too, but probably not at the library!)

      Alice Mary

      1. caroleena jones

        re: attitude adjustors

        we keep a bowl of mixed chocolates in the bottm drawer of the office I work in. It is a small office, but everyone from staff to delivery guys to us managers use it often. It does work. I shop for the chocolate individually wrapped pcs. it is justified as OFFICE SUPPLIES in petty cash

    12. Beth shriver

      Liked that one Erik!

    13. Richard

      Just checking in on Amish America, and i trust everyones July 4 weekend is coming along nicely. Richard from the Amish settlement of Lebanon Pennsylvania.

    14. Slightly-handled-Order-man

      Canada Day in a straw hat of the Amish style

      Yes, the Canada Day long weekend is coming along quite nicely, Friday June 1- Sunday June 3. I saw some nice fireworks and walked around a local festival, I am looking forward to seeing my favorite Canadian band on the third.
      I wore my Amish/Mennonite style straw hat to the fireworks display and a nice and friendly lady called me out on it, I mean, we and other girls and gents were talking about a lot of stuff while waiting for a bus away from the park.
      “You’re not from around here are you?” she asked.
      “Yes I am, born and raised, spent my whole life in the area.” I smiled.
      “But it’s the hat. People around here just don’t wear that style of hat too often if at all.”
      “Oh, well, I like odd hats. I don’t see too many young people wearing fedoras, either, which is a real shame, but myself, I always wanted a straw hat like this and I jumped at the chance to buy this one when I had it.” I explained, adding: “I like that it keeps the sun off my face and ears”.
      She was a nice lady and it was a fun conversation.

    15. Happy Canada Day

      To Shom and all other Canadian readers, happy Canada Day! And nice use of your hat. You may be starting a trend 🙂 I am ignorant here, are there any other special ways of celebrating Canada Day besides fireworks and festivals?

    16. Richard I am still in Poland for July 4, but have my plane ticket back to the US in just a few weeks. Poles and Americans get along pretty well, but I don’t think I’ll be seeing too many fireworks here Monday 🙂

    17. Slightly-handled-Order-man

      A great party weekend

      No ignorance needed, Erik, Canadians do the same things Americans do for the Fourth when we celebrate the First of July.
      All the same sort of events go on. I personally like it when the First is a Friday and the Fourth is a Monday, I like that most of the continent will be partying in someway at some point during a three day weekend. It makes for a good time all around.

      Oh, and on topic too, some people do need attitude adjusters during the long weekend wither it starts on a Friday or extends the long weekend through a Monday.

    18. Richard

      Erik's trip back to the USA......

      Hey Erik….. Well i hope your trip is a very safe one, and I’m sure your very much looking forward to coming back home for a visit. And have you made progress on your book?. Again happy birthday America………. Richard from the Amish settlement of Lebanon Pennsylvania.

    19. Richard

      Happy July 4 everyone..........

      Hey Erik….. Well i hope your trip is a very safe one when you do leave Poland, and I’m sure your very much looking forward to coming back home for a visit to the good old USA………… Again happy birthday America on this July 4………. Richard from the Amish settlement of Lebanon Pennsylvania.

    20. Julie Turner

      attitude adjustors

      I think having candies to adjust our attitudes is a very good idea.
      We can all have our times, when we are not being sweet, so maybe a little sweetning up is what we all need.
      Julie (Australia)

    21. Richard

      Sorry for the 2 post folks, not sure what happened there. Richard

    22. Richard sorry I missed responding earlier, and thanks for asking about the book, it is coming along, hope to have a nice update on it soon 🙂 I am very much looking forward to being back in the US