I joke to MJ that she is going through her military service now: As a new nurse, she has had to work through some pretty tough assignments, pulling night shifts, getting up at odd times, dealing with difficult patients, staying up on her feet most of the day (or night, depending on when she works), and adjusting to the day-to-day trials and tribulations as a nurse. Meanwhile, most of the world has been working from home during the pandemic, much like I am, with all the amenities available to work of taking breaks anyime I want, not having to go anywhere to get to work (just logging onto my computer is the extent of my commute), and fixed hours every day that I need to work. Often, MJ is so busy that she doesn't have time to eat because she's helping patients and serving people. That doesn't seem too bad if it's an 8-hour shift (still, CA law mandates a lunch break for all employees, recognizing the need for healthy and well-fed employees) but often he shifts are 12-13 hours, and that's not counting the commute back and forth as well as having to arrive early to prepare and stay late in case of emergencies! It really seems like a battleground out there, except unless military service in Korea for males (usually about 18 months), MJ's time horizon goes much longer: this is what her job will be like for the foreseeable future!
I often wonder what my life would have been like if I had to do mandatory military service like South Korean men have to do, and how lucky I was not to do it. I can imagine that the military is a very disciplined organization full of salutes, respecting authority, waking up early (crack of dawn), and plenty of physical training like climbing ropes, crawling under fences, traversing through obstacle courses, etc. Considering I was never able to climb the rope during gym or do more than one pull-up ever (I still dont' think I can, to this day) so the 18 months would likely have been miserable. But that's the point: discipline is not a fun activity, but it should teach one to adapt a disciplined lifestyle, to build up a routine, to be physically tough and mentally tough. I think I lack some of those skills, and lots of Americans do as well. After turning 18 and graduating high school, my adult life began with one of the more relaxed places an adult can be: college, where no one's policing your whereabouts, you can sleep in until any time you want, parties around campus can happen any time between Wednesday-Sunday night, you don't have to go to class if you don't want to, you're surrounded with thousands of people your age who are doing the exact same thing of "discovering themselves" and setting up their own free time. It's truly a liberating experience that gives a refreshing sense of freedom from parents, worries, and responsibilities, but is it really good for young adults to be that free that quickly? Given that I was pretty big into watching movies, playing poker, and hanging out at the basketball court during most of college, I'd say I didn't get hardened and ready for the big bad world out there, and it showed when I went directly to law school.....I wasn't ready for the competition, the rigors of working at a law firm, etc. I now realize why many employers like seeing some military experience from job candidates: it's not necessarily that they have the technical abilities associated with the military, it's just that they went through the military school/training process and survived, that they were in a rigorous system and didn't just slack off through college showing up only for the final exams. Just like I criticize my parents' parenting style sometimes for being too soft and making my sister and I weak and ripe for spoilage, I think putting yourself in a soft environment (aka, American universities) weakens the individual, makes them complacent and feel like they've got everything figured out, road ahead is all clear. It's usually not.
Luckily in my lifetime, the US has never done a draft or conscription for foreign wars, relying on the armed forces they already have (who knows if this will continue given that Russia is on the brink of invading Ukraine as we speak and the China-Taiwan relations always have the US on edge, with similar situations in a bunch of other places around the world), so I have the luxury of just seeing battlefields from afar (especially the US forces in Bagram, Afghanistan over the summer) knowing there's no way I would ever need to take arms or join the forces. What if I had gone through military training though? I feel like my world view would have changed, I would much more likely be sure to get enough no later than 8AM every single day no matter the circumstance (I woke up at 10:30AM on a Super Bowl Sunday this morning, it felt great but it softened me up), my world view about wars would change (instead of just thinking, Oh, "US invaded Iraq?" or "US is pulling out of Afghanistan?" Hmm, I would grasp how big of a move that is for the soldiers having to be deployed, or in some cases, able to go home to their families. I would appreciate my life enjoying the comforts of home much more, and always look back at the days of military service for some inspiration to work harder/ instill more discipline/ tough it out through severe hardships.
Then again, MJ says sometimes Korean men get a little too arrogant after having done military service, like they accomplished something great and then look down on Korean women who don't have to do military service. Also there's leaders who take the job too seriously or are "nutjobs" who go on power trips, or "hazing sessions" reminiscent of joining a fraternity. Last year BTS (the boy band) made the news for having to do military service even though they're international singers and have a lot better things they could be doing, and Psy, the Gangnam Style singer, had to do 2 stints of military service!!
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