Road Not Taken

08. 10. 10

Oh called a best friend of his. A friend that he has known for 2 decades. Same elementary school, same middle school, same high school, even same college they went together. What is more amazing is that there are two more with the same history. 4 musketeers..anyways,

They met and talked a bit. They talked about Oh's work, Oh's friend's study and whatnot. Then, Oh realized that it was a Friday night and was almost midnight.

Since they were talking near the college arena, there were ton of students coming out of bars, drunk and going somewhere. Also, Oh saw many couples hand in hand going up to seemingly the guy's or the girl's apartment for the feverish night. They were holding hands so firm as if their love's going to last forever. Some couples were an antithesis; while the boy almost was trying to drag the girl to his place or her place, the girl was resisting. After struggling a while, they, just like other couples, held thier hands so tight and disappeared into the dark back alley.

Since Oh's friend needed to go back to the bar and continue to hang out his friends, Oh said goodbye and promised to see each other next day and head to their hometown together in the afternoon.

While getting on the bike and getting ready to leave, Oh saw another bunch of guys coming of the bar. Oh did not have much recollection about drinking back in college. On Fridays, he used to stay in the dorm with his roommates and watch movies or whatnot. And sometimes when getting out of the library on late Friday night, he used to pass by a bunch of international students in the dorm going out for a drink, clubbing in Seoul, etc. Most of time Oh was asked to join them, he took a rain check on it. Well, Oh was an RA and he had to be on duty literally all the time.

In hindsight, Oh sometime thinks that he should have gone out more, done stupid things and learned lessons. But he does not regret how his life turned out. Since he worked hard and earned scholarships, his parents, while fully able to do so, did not have to pay his college tuition mostly. And furthermore, he feels always gracious for being able to employ the second language so fluently that he could have been able to communicate with wonderful people around the world and get to know lots of things about them. If he had not been reading and watching a countless number of magazines, books and movies in English, while his friends went out and get wasted, he would not have been able to as versatile and 'international" as he is now.

He always thinks that life is all about opportunity cost. You gain something you lose something else. What is more valuable to you thus what you choose between choices may decide your life. But how you take on those choices you make is going to be your life.

Then, Oh thinks of "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. Most of people think that the poem is telling us that although the decision you made was unorthodox and not supported by pre-existing social concept or whatever, you will eventually end up accomplishing what you wanted after all. But that is NOT the right interpretation. Let's take a look at the last two stanza for the poem.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Previously, the poet says that two roads are equally grassy and worn. And two roads have pretty much the tantamount physical condition. And thus it is not right to say that you decision is out of ordinary and does not conform to social norm or whatnot. Also, by using "sigh", Frost is on the fence whether the difference is positive or negative. He is not even sure how his decision turns out to be because it is still affecting him by saying "And that HAS MADE all the difference."

So whichever road you take, it does not matter. What matters is how you take on it. You are going to make differences. Your attitude, approaches and directions that you are going to create for yourself is going to be who you are and your life.

With this all jeremiad and crap, Oh gets on the bike and goes home to get some sleep.