The apple fell and it taught us that we're all chained here to the ground

From movies and public TV, I know that a recurring plight that inflicts anyone with a steady job is the American tendency to equate "who are you?" with "what do you do?" Or at least I'm sure I've seen at least a few staged group self-exploration exercises in which an overly tender psychoanalyst initiates this exchange:
"Who are you?"
"I'm Ted, the vice president of JiffyLube"
"No, I don't want your job title. Who are you?"
And at this point Ted usually either launches into an introspective monologue about latent childhood dreams and desires, or he's stunned into silence by the sudden realization of his dronish existence. In the end, I don't think they ever tell us how we actually do know who we are, but I guess the important thing to remember is that the answer isn't "barista." Thanks, PBS.

Considering my work identities so far have been Hostess, Bearmaker, Pizza Shifter, Sales Associate, Cook, and Tutor, I think I'd agree with public television that none of those are particularly appropriate for me to cosmically mentally align myself with. But when we're talking about professions, I think it's a little different. Unless I'm remembering Elementary school horribly, horribly wrong, whatever job you ultimately pursue is supposed to be, ideally and essentially, getting paid to do what you'd otherwise do for free. If you like doing math, become an accountant and get paid to do math. And if that scenario plays out, I don't think Mathy is going to have much beef with having his identity wrapped up in being an accountant, since that, after all, more or less encapsulates what he enjoys and probably won't be far off the true introspective mark.

That's not to say that the ideal fun-to-work transfer happens for everyone, which is why the PBS specials are necessary. Plus, naturally, the Other Than Work parts of your life make up your identity too. I'm just saying, if I become a publisher/writer, and someone points at me and says, "Hey, that's Linda and she likes books!", I'm not going to sue for misrepresentation.

That being said, next time anyone sees my sister, point at her and yell, "Hey that's Cathi and she likes alcohol!"