10 Things I Learned being Married to a Politician.

H/T @arampersaud

Your post on political office inspired this list.

My spouse got elected to local political office. Here are some things I learned.

1. Work is not 9-5

2. It does not pay well....

At least at the local level. It is considered a part time or community service type job that actually carries real responsibility and liability

3. You are never "off-duty"

4. You suddenly gain "friends" you've never met before

5. You suddenly lose friends you've known for decades

6. Someone is always mad at you

7. You spend as much time battling bureaucracy as you do serving the public

8. People can have very skewed ideas on what politicians can actually accomplish or change.

Or at what levels of government that change needs to take place.

9. Bureaucracy is very expensive.

Paving the road is cheap. Navigating the process to pave the road is definitely not.

10. Politicians spend at least as much time sparring with their own party as they do their opponents.

11. Political party affiliation really tells you very, very little about a person.