I _have_ used Java, Matlab, and Python.
Python is quite likely to be used in a real job. In fact, I require python skills for the development positions I hire for. My department uses it every single day.
If an applicant or employee chose "Java" or "Matlab" to implement a "quick program" to try to solve the tasks we tackle at my workplace, I'd throw them out on their ear for choosing an inappropriate tool for the job. For example, creating a secure, asynchronous communications network with Matlab would be very difficult. Another example: automating system administration tasks across a variety of open-source OS's of various ages and architectures would be unnecessarily complex with Java and difficult to make portable due to the incompatibility of various Java versions, while a python script works quite nicely and portably.
Mind you, there are other domains where Java or Matlab are the appropriate tool for the job (I mean, c'mon, who wants to process matrices with Java or Python?). I'm not saying they are useless. They're just useful in other domains than we are in at my workplace. There is definitely a place for Python in this world. It's quite often used in real jobs.
I disagree that Python is an appropriate educational stepping stone to C, but that's just because my personal opinion is that things ought to start with the nuts and bolts and then taught upward (for example: binary, then machine language, then assembly, then C, then scripting languages).