Busy being busy

By Park Moo-jong

“How are you?”

“Oh, I’m so busy. I have no time.”

“Do you have time to meet up later?”

“No. Can’t. Too busy.”

Everybody in Korea seems to be busy, irrespective of age and gender.

Fathers are busy working to feed their families. Mothers are busy taking care of their children. Children are busy taking various private lessons after school.

Having no time really to do something is a pity.

“Remember time is money,” said Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) in “Advice to a Young Tradesman” (1748).

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) said in the “Fortunes of Nigel” (1822), “Time and tide wait for no man.”

“But meanwhile it is flying, irretrievable time is flying (Sed fugit interea, fugit inteparabile tempus),” said Roman poet Virgil (70-19 B.C.). This sayingis usually quoted as “tempus fugit (time flies).”

Besides these sayings and proverbs, there are numerous others about the nature of time across all ages and countries.

Among them all, “time flies” appears to be the paradigmatic phrase for Koreans of today, distinguished or sometimes notorious for their quick and hard-working temperament.

Telling somebody, “I’m so busy,” may be an irresponsible answer for many of us. It’s something like a reflex to any questions people of today may receive from others.

The “trademark” phrase for busy and quick-tempered Koreans is “ppalli, ppalli,” meaning “hurry up, hurry up” or “quickly, quickly.”

This term is almost international known only too well to most merchants, waiters and others who interact with Koreans at tourist destinations worldwide.

The term is like a coin.

It is something more than just hastiness and saving time for busy Koreans, intensively goal-oriented under the “can-do” spirit, making Korea more energetic and dynamic.

On the contrary, the term, “ppalli, ppalli,” has been blamed from time to time for having caused big accidents. In order to attain goals “quickly,” principles, procedures and regulations have been neglected occasionally.

Some years ago, a foreign lady ambassador to Seoul had expressed her surprise at Koreans’ busy life, diligence and quick temper.

She had a summer leave for a month. She returned to Seoul only to find that a huge overpass for vehicles next to Sinsegae Department Store was gone.

She asked me, “What happened (to the elevated motor way)?”

I answered simply, “As you see, it was removed.”

She said, “If in our country, such a demolition work would take some months.”

Of course, faster is not always better. As Korea has experienced many times, pressures to get things done quickly by cutting corners, especially big construction projects, has resulted in big accidents like the fall of Sampoong Department Store in Seoul on June 29, 1995 that claimed 507 lives.

Few can deny that Koreans are busy. But the problem is that many of them are busy being busy.

They busy themselves being busy by checking smartphones and spending time on SNS, for instance, almost all around the clock, even while taking meals with family members and friends.

Drivers start crossing the road just before traffic signs change to green. Subway passengers run up escalator stairs and many of them are so busy they enter trains before others get out.

Saying “so busy” can be a good excuse to reject various invitations or avoid meetings.

A recent joke pokes fun at the people who used to say they were “too busy” to do things. An organizer of a gathering of friends asked, ”Why are you late?” The latecomer said, “I was too busy to arrive on time.”

“Ah, you were so busy. Then, you should have come yesterday.”

Hosts of many parties, dinners or conferences used to tell me, when I attended the events, “Thank you very much for joining us despite your being busy.”

My answer was always the same. “No, I am not busy. Rather, I’d like to express my gratitude for your invitation. Thank you so much.”

Making some time to do something like attending a dinner as an invited guest largely depends on one’s decision, no matter how busy he or she is.

Being busy should not be something that people should boast about.

The latest statistics show how busy being busy Koreans are. Koreans are almost second to none when it comes to the speed of eating.

More than half of about 8,000 people who underwent a medical checkup at Korean University’s Ansan Hospital were found to have finished their meals within 10 minutes.

Office workers, for an example, used to stand up as soon as they took lunch at restaurants, as if they are chased by something. A worker confessed, “As I live with a notion that I have to eat fast and return to work, I eat extremely fast.”

We should not be too busy to meet a real-life friend in person due to spending two or three hours a day on our smartphone checking or updating our SNS.

If the people are really busy with things that they care about and that truly matter to them, being busy is quite natural.

There is definitely nothing that the people are too busy to do.

Here’s a quotation from the Internet about how to respond when your boss asks “Are you busy?”

”I’m keeping busy, but I can make time! What’s up?”

Athens Philosopher Socrates (470-399 B.C.) said, “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”

Park Moo-jong is The Korea Times advisor. He had served as the president-publisher of the daily from 2004 to 2014 after he had worked as a reporter of the paper since 1974. Contact him at moojong@ktimes.co.kr.