Are we what we do?

A long time ago I worked for a video store that is now sinking like the mighty Titanic. 

At this time, I had already been lifting weights for about a year, and was pretty into it, for all intents and purposes.  One day, I had a day off.  On my days off of work, and on some days I was to go into work, I lifted weights. 

One particular day off, I was getting up in the morning readying myself for the gym and I got a call from my work place.  They wanted to know if I could go help a store that was short staffed.   Me, ever the altruist and loving to help my fellow humans, I said, "Sure, I will get in there as soon as I can."  They said that was fine. 

After the call, I went to the gym and pumped some serious iron, returned home to bathe, and put my work uniform on and went to the store.  Then, about an hour and forty-five minutes later as I was driving to my added shift, I got a call asking where I was.  I replied that I was on the way, and that I am getting there as soon as I could.  I showed up two hours after the call. 

What was the point of this?  That my obligations within my life are my own, and a job that asks me for a favor on a day I am not required to work does not supersede whatever the fuck it is I feel like doing with my life.  I only bring this up because I there are opinions varied from my previously stated one--according to these, I should have promptly went into work, and let the gym fall by the wayside.  However, to my mind I was telling the truth when I said I would be there as soon as I could.  What are your opinions?

A lot of people use work as an excuse to get out of things that they probably should do--and indeed this is not a bad thing, as many people are very lucky to have a job these days--and in turn their jobs start to control their lives, and then we start identifying with our jobs as expressions of who we are.  One of the first questions I find being asked of me these days when I meet new young professionals is "What do you do for a living?"  

And contrary to what a lot of liberal, hippie, soy eating college students say, being identified with what you do isn't always a bad thing, provided you enjoy it.  I, for instance, view myself as a teacher in all aspects of my life.  I realized this when my roommate overheard my excitement as I was teaching someone to play a song and they comprehended what I was saying.  This is something I can get behind, as I derive pleasure from it, and the student gets knowledge as a result.  I love being a teacher so much, that it has not dawned on me to ask for a raise after two years of working, though a coworker advised I should.  I might. 

The wrong kind of work identity can lead you to beat the fuck out of a copy machine.

However, there are a lot of people who don't like what they do as much as I like doing what I do.  We have the power to change it, should we desire, but usually some sort of fear takes over and we don't.  So we fuck our identities, and stick it to something we view as meaningless and meaningful at the same time.  Leading us to a state of cognitive dissonance.  So remember, your job doesn't dictate your life, it should be the other way around.  And everything we do is impermanent, so keep that in mind as you travel forward in life.