Chapter 25: How did you decide to change your job?

After high school, I decided to not go to college. It was very difficult to get into a college because everyone tried to attend a college to avoid the draft. My father was in the Navy during WWII. My eldest brother, Jack, was in the National Guard, but that was between the Korean War and the Vietnam War, so he didn’t have to go into combat. My next oldest brother, Bill, was in the seminary studying to be a priest, so he didn’t have to worry about being drafted into the military. My next older brother, Jim, joined the Navy and spent a couple of years in Vietnam. I wanted to join the Navy like my father and brother, but the Navy recruiter said the waiting list to get in was about eight months. I went next door to the Air Force recruiter and told them what the Navy had told me. I was worried that I would be drafted while waiting eight months. So, the Air Force recruiter told me that there was only a three-month waiting list. They lied. It took about eight months.

When I was in high school, I worked parttime at an IGA grocery store on Queen Anne Hill. I loved the job and had the best boss. After I graduated, I worked there fulltime while waiting to join the Air Force. I went to the Air Force recruiter after about three months, and they told me it would be another three months. I told my boss, Ken Giles, about it and he told me to go to the draft board to find out when I would be drafted. The draft board office was on the waterfront. There was an elderly lady working there and there was nobody else but myself. I explained the situation to her. I wanted to join the Air Force and wanted to go to Viet Nam, but I didn’t want to be drafted. She had a stack of folders on her desk. She asked me for my name and address. It turned out that she lived three blocks from my house. She said that my name sounded familiar then we joked about my name, Robert Young, being the same as the actor in Father Knows Best and Dr. Marcus Welby. Anyway, she looked into the stack of folders and pulled one out with my name on it. I asked what that meant, and she said that she was typing up draft notices and when finished, she would send them out. She told me to see the recruiter and ask to be put into the delayed enlistment program (DEP). This would protect me from being drafted while waiting to be enlisted. She had the folder in her hand, and I told her that I would receive the draft notice before I could enter the DEP. She said, “Sometimes things get lost.” I realized later that she “lost” the documents. They were never sent to me.

Again, I digress. Now to the original question: How did you decide to change your job? I consider that being in the Air Force was my first “real” job. I went to basic training, a.k.a. boot camp, in Texas and then to Denver for technical school. My first permanent base was at Phu Cat Vietnam followed by bases in Mt. Home, Idaho, Bien Hoa, Vietnam, Davis Monthan AFB in Tuscan, Arizona, Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Takhli AB in Thailand, back to Nellis, Kadena AB in Okinawa, back to Nellis again and finally to Yokota AB in Tokyo.

I came to Yokota on a four-year assignment. It was easy to get an additional two years. That would give me a total of over 20 years in the Air Force. I was promoted to Master Sergeant (E7) but had to have the promotion for at least two years to retire at that rank. I would also get about five percent more in my retirement income if I served over 22 years. I wrote a long letter to justify staying here for another year and my commander OK’d it.

During my final two years, I was working five days a week in the Air Force, three nights a week teaching English in my house and when not teaching, I was working for my friend’s used car business in the evenings and on Saturday and Sunday. For several months after I retired, I was still teaching and working on the car lot seven days and seven nights a week. I had to decide on which of the two jobs I wanted to do full time. The car business was good money and teaching was an unknown. Most of my friends said to go for the money and sell cars. I enjoyed teaching much more than selling cars, so I decided that was what I wanted to do. I have been doing only the teaching since around January 1970 and am very happy with my decision. I try to make studying English fun and interesting and hope that my students also enjoy the classes. I still have four of my original students, so I guess I am doing ok. Maybe they like my “samui” jokes.

“Samui” means “cold” and a “samui joke” would be the same as a “dad joke.”

I must thank my sister-in-law, Marge, may she rest in peace, for recommending that I do the job that I enjoy and not worry about the money.