Friend Rentals

I found a business that would thrive if it advertised here. Too bad it is only in Japan. Oh well it is an interesting read

I think it's kind of sad that things come to this. It would seem more beneficial to offer services to help people socialize outside of work and form their own friendships, though I suppose if cuddle cafes can stay in business this is also more lucrative than "teaching a man to fish." Japan is culturally rather different, though, so I guess there could be a lot of other factors at play.

So basically if you're like me and have no money you're still screwed.

I don't get why these threads keep popping up. You can't buy a real friend or a real relationship. You might as well have an imaginary friend or lover, they come for free.

Essentially, the world is a completely messed up place. Most people are lemmings. When decency and integrity go out of fashion, the masses leave those behind as well.

Tealeaf said:

I think it's kind of sad that things come to this. It would seem more beneficial to offer services to help people socialize outside of work and form their own friendships, though I suppose if cuddle cafes can stay in business this is also more lucrative than "teaching a man to fish." Japan is culturally rather different, though, so I guess there could be a lot of other factors at play.

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Well personally I feel that this method is better than using tax money that goes to education and stuff like that. In all reality this service is incredibly beneficial. Do you not think that those who are being rented are trained to some degree or at least socially intelligent? The problem is that most people just want to buy the companionship. If even a quarter of them paid a little attention to how those friends they rented acted. Well, they might learn a thing or two and put this idea out of business. Same thing with host/hostess cafes. If people paid attention those might go out of business as well.

LonelyInAtl said:

http://www.whatsyourprice.com

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Similar concept, but not the same thing. Remember friendship and dating are two different things.

perfanoff said:

I don't get why these threads keep popping up. You can't buy a real friend or a real relationship. You might as well have an imaginary friend or lover, they come for free.

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Well if imaginary friends were all that people needed this forum would not survive. Plus no matter what you do, creating a voice in your head and hearing a voice externally from another has different psychological effects on people.

http://rentafriend.com/

That's evil.

I can see this as practice. I would use a rent-a-friend if they would evaluate me and tell me what I was doing "wrong".
There are times when I'm going insane with boredom. To be able to rent someone to go to an art festival or a craft fair or roller skating or a musical festival. My husband doesn't enjoy outings like that and taking the kids is like dragging a bag of wet cats around.

I would use this service like I use a nail salon. A little indulgence that I enjoy and makes me feel good about myself for a period of time.
Plus, I wouldn't have to worry constantly about how I look or act. They can pretend to be fascinated by my wittiness and sangfroid - I'd pay extra. I wonder if they offer an entourage ...

I was about to link to rentafriend.com I'm actually on there.

AFrozenSoul said:

Tealeaf said:

I think it's kind of sad that things come to this. It would seem more beneficial to offer services to help people socialize outside of work and form their own friendships, though I suppose if cuddle cafes can stay in business this is also more lucrative than "teaching a man to fish." Japan is culturally rather different, though, so I guess there could be a lot of other factors at play.

Click to expand...

Well personally I feel that this method is better than using tax money that goes to education and stuff like that. In all reality this service is incredibly beneficial. Do you not think that those who are being rented are trained to some degree or at least socially intelligent? The problem is that most people just want to buy the companionship. If even a quarter of them paid a little attention to how those friends they rented acted. Well, they might learn a thing or two and put this idea out of business. Same thing with host/hostess cafes. If people paid attention those might go out of business as well.

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Hmh, I don't doubt that the rent-a-friends are at least good company and would be worth learning from. They certainly wouldn't employ people that were unpleasant to be around, or no one would pay. It just seems a little, I don't know, sad?

Obviously people using these services don't have other people to turn to, and I doubt that more than a handful of them are content to be that way and simply wanting someone for a weekend. It's the kind of thing that sounds like it could potentially become a replacement for the real thing or a way to avoid the harder path to the real thing, especially for people who've had the hardest time learning social skills or have the least access to their culture's prime social settings.

I don't know the clientele, though. Maybe it really is primarily solitary people who think it lacks class to show up at a club alone or something.

Until I read this thread, I believed that mail order brides were the most pathetic thing I had ever heard of. They were. But no more. No indeed. Renting a friend is the most pathetic thing I've ever heard of. Likely THE most pathetic thing I will ever hear of. 2013...here we are...finding new and innovative ways to take exploitation to the utmost extremes.

The Rent a Friend website that was posted is pretty funny. At least it tries to do more than just provide companionship. Well at least it masks that overarching idea. Still I would not use it. I can go do things by myself

Tealeaf said:

Hmh, I don't doubt that the rent-a-friends are at least good company and would be worth learning from. They certainly wouldn't employ people that were unpleasant to be around, or no one would pay. It just seems a little, I don't know, sad?

Obviously people using these services don't have other people to turn to, and I doubt that more than a handful of them are content to be that way and simply wanting someone for a weekend. It's the kind of thing that sounds like it could potentially become a replacement for the real thing or a way to avoid the harder path to the real thing, especially for people who've had the hardest time learning social skills or have the least access to their culture's prime social settings.

I don't know the clientele, though. Maybe it really is primarily solitary people who think it lacks class to show up at a club alone or something.

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I agree it is a little sad. However, I look at my corner of the universe and think the exact same thing, This is a little sad.

True that this could become a replacement for the real thing. However, how is this any worse than relying on Anti-depressants or other Psychological drugs? They both cost money and both have side-effects.

I still think this forum is like the perfect place for them to advertise. It is full of people who cannot go out and socialize by themselves for whatever reason.

This might be a temporary solution for those at the peak of desperation, but I think it's pretty clear what you are getting is a service, not friendship.
Considering those "rental friends" actual friends is like thinking of an escort as your lover...
Still, I suppose it doesn't hurt to have the option open, nobody HAS to hire them so I guess there's no reason to complain.

AFrozenSoul said:

The Rent a Friend website that was posted is pretty funny. At least it tries to do more than just provide companionship. Well at least it masks that overarching idea. Still I would not use it. I can go do things by myself

Tealeaf said:

Hmh, I don't doubt that the rent-a-friends are at least good company and would be worth learning from. They certainly wouldn't employ people that were unpleasant to be around, or no one would pay. It just seems a little, I don't know, sad?

Obviously people using these services don't have other people to turn to, and I doubt that more than a handful of them are content to be that way and simply wanting someone for a weekend. It's the kind of thing that sounds like it could potentially become a replacement for the real thing or a way to avoid the harder path to the real thing, especially for people who've had the hardest time learning social skills or have the least access to their culture's prime social settings.

I don't know the clientele, though. Maybe it really is primarily solitary people who think it lacks class to show up at a club alone or something.

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I agree it is a little sad. However, I look at my corner of the universe and think the exact same thing, This is a little sad.

True that this could become a replacement for the real thing. However, how is this any worse than relying on Anti-depressants or other Psychological drugs? They both cost money and both have side-effects.

I still think this forum is like the perfect place for them to advertise. It is full of people who cannot go out and socialize by themselves for whatever reason.

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Well, anti-depressants and similar medications seem to go towards both people who have no other option because, say, it's a chemical issue in their brain that can't just be "fixed," as well as people who are capable of managing themselves with some effort. I was on medication for problems in middle school for a little over a year but decided to patch things up on my own. Meanwhile, I know a few people who can't just "patch things up" and need their medication to function.

I think it's similar here, where we have both people who might just be using it for kicks and those who might see it as the easy out when there's still hope for them to have the real thing. I think very few people in the world are truly so damaged as to have no chance of a social life, maybe none.

I'm concerned for people who wind up dependent on medication when they really don't need to be, too, by the way. This service is specifically targeted at people who need a substitute for real people, though, so despite its uses it makes me a little uneasy.

Tealeaf said:

Well, anti-depressants and similar medications seem to go towards both people who have no other option because, say, it's a chemical issue in their brain that can't just be "fixed," as well as people who are capable of managing themselves with some effort. I was on medication for problems in middle school for a little over a year but decided to patch things up on my own. Meanwhile, I know a few people who can't just "patch things up" and need their medication to function.

I think it's similar here, where we have both people who might just be using it for kicks and those who might see it as the easy out when there's still hope for them to have the real thing. I think very few people in the world are truly so damaged as to have no chance of a social life, maybe none.

I'm concerned for people who wind up dependent on medication when they really don't need to be, too, by the way. This service is specifically targeted at people who need a substitute for real people, though, so despite its uses it makes me a little uneasy.

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What about those, who for some reason, cannot make friends? How are they any different then those who cannot patch things up off their meds? Yeah I understand there are people who truly have major neurological problems. However, those people we deem unfit for society and lock them away. Those we deem fit enough for society are no different than those who do not learn how to socialize.

AFrozenSoul said:

What about those, who for some reason, cannot make friends? How are they any different then those who cannot patch things up off their meds? Yeah I understand there are people who truly have major neurological problems. However, those people we deem unfit for society and lock them away. Those we deem fit enough for society are no different than those who do not learn how to socialize.

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Like I said, I believe very few to no people are so damaged as to be unable to have a social life of their own. The ones that have poor social skills or anxiety are in theory capable of having the real thing once their problems are reigned in because it's a matter of learning and/or treatment, though for me personally it took years of work to start feeling okay.

Even anxiety that's too severe to handle on one's own can be medicated, and that in itself can remove a huge obstacle preventing someone from having a social life. I haven't seen any social obstacles that I don't think have some viable strategies or anyone who's failing for no reason whatsoever *, which is nothing like someone whose own brain is inhibiting one's ability to function because of, say, genetics. It's the difference between not knowing how to listen and not being able to hear.

It's their choice to choose services like rent-a-friend, but my discomfort remains. It's similar to my feelings toward professionals who are too quick to write a prescription in place of recommending a patient to a treatment that will deal with the causes and hopefully get them out of the office and back into life, instead of just giving them something to ease the symptoms and cover it up.

* Since seeing some absolutely wild misinterpretations of people that other posters on a forum actually agreed with, I'm highly skeptical of "everyone is mean/doesn't care/avoids me just because"

A lot of those services are actually covers for prostitution.

*runs down to the local Korean Massage Parlor*

Yeah, I'd like a full-body massage. Why stop at being friends?