It was the last Sunday of Winter break and the only thing standing between me and the last semester of my college career was an hour-and-a-half drive through the open roads of rural New York.

I was one of ten students crammed into a van provided by our school's Transportation service, a rotating team of middle-aged drivers with the task of moving us inspired young people to our place of learning.

At my school, if you want to drive a van, your chances seem to multiply if you're in your fifties or older, averse to small talk and play the van radio a little too loudly. But the driver for this ride was different. He was easygoing, he had a sharp sense of humor, and he intermittently struck up a conversation with us during the ride. And he had the radio turned off.

At one point, when the topic of college came up, I asked him, "What was your major?" I already had an expectation. I thought maybe, once upon a time, there was a hopeful young man who went to college to major in Psychology or Botany or something, but for one reason or another wound up driving vans instead.

Without missing a beat, the driver answered, "Drink!"

There was a pause. That wasn't what I expected to hear. Then he laughed and went on, "That was the whole point of college. It was 1974, my buddies and I just drank, smoked, chased girls, did other things too. It was great!"

I remember thinking at the time, sounds like college hasn't changed a lot in four decades.

"All that other stuff was just on the side," he grinned, "I passed everything with a 2.5, and that's what matters!"

Once I'd settled back into my dorm, I found myself thinking about what he said. Apparently as a young man, his passions were drinking, smoking and chasing girls. For all his college degree seemed to matter in the big picture, he could have been undeclared all four years. Class was just a frivolous distraction from the real fun of college- drink!

Wait, I thought to myself, maybe not taking his college classes seriously is why he ended up driving vans.

Almost certainly true. Maybe if this guy had used his time in college to find an employable fourth passion along with drinking, smoking and chasing girls, he might earn more money at a higher-profile job.

But then something else occurred to me. What's wrong with being a van driver?

It seems that a job such as commercial driving lives in a certain caliber of work, along with mopping floors, flipping burgers and serving coffee. These are jobs that you don't "achieve," but rather you "end up doing."

I don't doubt that van driving is anyone's idea of a dream job. Neither is running the cash register at Burger King and serving cheeseburgers to strangers.

In fact, almost no one who works such a job does it because it's what they want out of their life, but rather as a detour of sorts.

One more step on the road to greater success, or a periodical distraction so you can pay the bills?

But on the other hand, some people might dream of an upper-management level position at Burger King. There's a career, rather than a job. So, if you go to college, get your degree, then start on the ground floor at BK (heating up cheap frozen food), that means you've got a chance of climbing the old corporate ladder. All you need is a degree, dedication and drive, right?

The truth is, not everyone can be General Manager at BK. You need people to do the grunt work, too. Does this mean if you work at the cash register for five years without a promotion, you're somehow a failure? No! You're still providing a necessary service and meeting an ever-present demand. And, most of all, you have a place in the larger order.

For some people, career goals aren't a going concern. For some, a job is a job, whatever it may entail. Sometimes you end up doing a job because, well, someone's got to do it!

So before you to judge someone as they take your order or take away your garbage, stop and consider the duty that person gets paid to carry out on a regular basis. Then thank them for it if you are so inclined, and go about your day.