Job vs Career

So I was just hired at my first full time position at a good company since graduating college this spring. Before I can start working I had to go to a clinic to have a physical and drug test. The process took almost 3 hours due to constant mistakes and just a plain disregard for others time... it's funny because every doctor tells you to make an appointment and yet non of them ever keep it. You're the one paying them and yet you sit half naked in an exam room for almost an hour for a process that takes two minutes while they are constantly "running late".... To get back to the point, the doctor examining me asked what position I was just hired for... I told him "Credit Collection Representative". He gave me a look and said "So you're going to call people to be mean to them".  "No" I said, "I'm going to make sure people pay for what they have been using". He finished the conversation by giving me another all-knowing look and saying, "Sure, we'll call it that".

I have no shame in my job, people make a promise to pay in exchange for goods, I don't feel like a bad guy for holding them accountable to their agreements for goods they have already been using. Not to mention this is a good job, I will be working full time plus overtime and for once I will have benefits (something I really need). I am more then happy with this job, I am STOKED. I will be able to pay off my student loans, save some money, become a more independent individual and hopefully work my way up in the company. This position has absolutely nothing to do with my degree but honestly I wasn't expecting my first job to. I have a degree in humanities, something I thoroughly enjoyed learning about and would not take back, but I knew going in my area of study that it was going to be a hard sell to potential employers. Short of working in a museum (which I applied and interviewed for) or a school (no thank you, not my temperament) my degree does not apply to many careers other then the sheer well rounded ability to learn. Turns out that was all I needed in order to get my current job.

My brother once asked me what career I hoped to have. I told him honestly, "I don't really care what I do. So long as it's a decent job for a good company all I care is that I make enough money to freely enjoy my time with the people I love when I'm not working". He was absolutely shocked. My brother is of the mind set that his career, a teacher, is his obligation to better the world and gave me a long speech about how his job is his life. I appreciate teachers enormously, especially here in California where their responsibility is so great, their resources so little and their compensation even less. I admire all those who have a fulfilling career that makes them and the world better for it... I just don't want to be looked down on for not having the same. I may not be able to change the world in a significant way through my work but I hope to improve the lives of my friends, my siblings, my boyfriend and maybe my own family one day by truly being able to focus on us and our well-being over that of a career.

Maybe that will all change and I will also find my own "career" but I'll still be proud of where I started, where I am today and be proud of those who are able to succeed in at their own jobs, what ever they may be... because their is no shame in working.