> She couldn’t understand when I said that would take all the pleasure out of it, because talking to people would become transactional rather than joyous.

It doesn't have to and I suspect that's why your colleague suggested it. Politicians act that way because that's what people want except they don't want someone who is acting.

You have what politicians pretend to have because it makes people like them.

You might be a terrible politician for other reasons but I don't think what you've said is true.

There are plenty of politicians who get into politics precisely because they love interacting with everyone.

It doesn't take the pleasure out of it, it doesn't make it transactional. It just gives them incredible job fulfillment, at least in that part of it.

Bill Clinton was famous for this. It was incredibly frustrating to his staff because he was constantly late for his next event, because he always wanted to keep talking to the people he'd just met. They'd have to build in buffer time to plan around it, because otherwise it wound up disrupting his schedule and logistics too much.

Hey bud, with all due respect, you’re arguing against who someone believes they are.