"What do you do"

I have a few thoughts that I wanted to write down and share. First off I wonder if it has always been this way or if it is just our generation.

Why is it that the first thing people ask to "get to know you" is "what do you do?" This usually correlates to what do you do in the workforce "I am a plumber etc". But why is this so, does it really define who you are? Have we really been trained to think that we need to accomplish something in the workforce. Is working 60 hour/week and making a lot of money really an accomplishment? The more I am a stay at home mom the more people ask me "what do you do?" as if I should put my daughter in daycare 60 hours a week to go and work and pay for daycare just to show the corporate world I accomplished something? Yeah its stupid. Work doesn't define me, so when my professor called regarding my 600 internship hours I need to finish in the fall she asked me what I want to do... this was my response; I see myself raising a healthy beautiful child to be successful in LIFE, to continue having a happy and healthy marriage so we can lead by example, continue my contribution to society, recycle, eat from the earth, be healthy (not "I go to the gym and lift weights healthy") but healthful living, be thankful and not take things/people for granted. If we don't take care of where we live we will not be able to have jobs, If we don't take care of our marriages then it is harder to teach our children what healthy companionship means, if we don't take care of our children they will not contribute to society or in the workforce, if we don't take care of eachother what is the point of being here? Everything has a cyclical affect and so often I need to be reminded of whats important in life, so if my "daily living" could count as my internship that would be awesome.

well lets just say my professor didn't go for that!

So, who are we? What are we doing here? What do we value? Does it show? I definitely need to check myself....