Rent yourself a girlfriend. Girls for rent

Russians had just come to terms with “husbands, wives and dads for an hour” when a new service appeared on the service market in the Russian capital - “friend for rent.”

To pour out my soul, hang out shopping, discuss a new film - this and much more is ready to be shouldered by a “rental friend”. They say that in Japan you can rent a whole family: wife and children. And in America, a “wife for hire” can not only prepare sandwiches, but for complete pleasure, “cut” for a late return home.

What's happening to us? Worn out by work and the race for a successful life, do we lose true friends and suffer wildly from a lack of communication? Or is the new service quite adequate to the demands of the time and there is nothing terrible about it?

Our correspondent tried to rent a friend and find answers to these questions.

The legend is this: I composed a play. About love and stuff. I want to read it out loud. With feeling. The trouble is that no one wants to listen to me. I need a “friend” who will listen to my performance with pleasure, express admiration, and suggest a theater that will immediately stage my masterpiece. Well, besides this, I need to prove to my real friends that I am also a human being, that is, in front of a man. Although these are minor things. The main thing is the play.

With such a legend, I go in search of a pseudo-friend on the Internet. The website rentafriend.ru promises to help you make a decision, confess your love, feel supported, buy a car, open your own business, go to the movies, find a soul mate and even change your life!

In general, everything is simple. The meeting is scheduled at a cafe. Communication with a “friend” will not cost much, only 500 rubles per hour. True, for some reason the communication time is limited: no more than two hours. The "friend for hire" is probably working alone. There is another option - chat on ICQ. “The first 15 minutes of communication are free. Then the cost of a consultation is 600 rubles for no more than two hours.” The conditions of the meeting are agreed upon immediately: over 18 years of age, do not drink alcohol, anonymity is guaranteed.

“A friend for rent” called me in the evening, when I had already changed my mind about pouring out my soul, resolving difficulties with guys, reading a play and turning into a pleasant flirt, which I honestly admitted to him.

Well, what are you doing, - a pleasant male voice regretted.

Well, it's strange to rent a friend...

It’s wrong to think that “renting a friend” is something terrible, the interlocutor advises. - This is a certain turn. Nowadays anything is on sale. You can buy a woman, that's love for money. "Friend for rent" is more easy communication than, for example, in a psychologist’s office.

Helping for nothing is volunteering,” he carefully added. “Besides, there were people in my life who let me down very badly, I tried to help them, but they didn’t even say thank you.”

Do you agree to everything?

Except for intimacy,” the “friend” warned sternly.

I want you to listen to my play! Attentively!

I won't spit at the ceiling! “Creativity is wonderful,” he responded readily. I said thank you and promised to think about it.

Alexander Romanov is a teacher by profession, and by vocation he is the director of a bureau of creative support and assistance in non-standard situations. His agency has been offering various “human services” for ten years, for example, saving people from boring meetings, enhancing the reputation of an unlucky employee, creating the appearance of vigorous activity, etc. Four years ago, the “creative bureau” introduced the “friend for rent” service.

One day, people began to contact us with various requests of this kind,” says Alexander Romanov, “and we realized that this service could be in demand, and began to develop it.

It turns out that it is mostly women who need a “friend for rent”, and sometimes, however, married couples as well.

Recently, a married couple approached us who wanted to hold a wedding,” recalls Alexander. - The fact is that they came from another city, and in order to demonstrate to others and relatives that they have many friends and acquaintances in this city, including among the glamorous segments of the population, they asked us to organize friends for rent, who their friends would be portrayed at the wedding.

Alexander divided girls who need a “friend for rent” into two categories. Women in the first category ask for a “friend to go shopping with.” They are married and in their thirties. Their husbands, due to certain circumstances (for example, running a business), cannot find time to go to boutiques. Moreover, such girls rent “friends” not because they do not have real girlfriends or friends.

It’s just that, in their opinion, friends are always envious, so they will never objectively say whether this thing is suitable or not,” says Alexander. - Well, this is how man is created: if a friend buys an expensive thing that suits her, it can be very unpleasant for another girl. Therefore, those ladies who think so invite “friends for rent”. They are objective, they will tell you everything, they are always friendly, pleasant conversationalists, they will help you choose something, they are well versed in fashion, and they keep up with the times. The second category of girls recently arrived in Moscow and works for new job, they don’t have new friends yet, but they want to go to the theater.

By profession, “friends for hire” are by no means actors or psychologists. Alexander Romanov, on principle, does not use the services of either one or the other.

Actors overact all the time,” he shares. - I invite ordinary people, it could be a student, a doctor, an engineer, but due to their artistic abilities (they love pranks, unusual situations, they know how to improvise), they like this work.

“Friends for rent” must be highly educated, outwardly pleasant (not necessarily handsome and beautiful), charming and simply pleasant people who can change on the fly.

How much does such a “friend” cost, I think with horror.

This service is not only for wealthy people, Alexander admits, “a friend for rent” does not cost millions. I don't want to give a specific number because our services are varied.

According to the director of the creative support bureau, the demand for this service is growing.

I asked him why this service turned out to be so popular in our country?

Now our society has become more liberated,” says Alexander Romanov, director of the agency. - We are becoming more tolerant of various types services. Of course, for us, former Soviet people, all this is alien. What's it like to rent a friend? It is immoral! You can't rent a friend, a friend is a friend!

But if we have become so liberated, then why can’t we find real friends for nothing?

Of course it is possible. But only if you live in some Uryupinsk,” Alexander is convinced. - Moscow is too harsh and tough a city, it does not allow people to do as you say. Try meeting people on the street and see where they send you.

how do you like this

Dmitry Bykov, writer:

I think this is a manifestation of progress, because people began to think that they can buy everything. If in fact it is possible to buy exemption from the army, that is, to buy oneself off from civil duties, if for money one can come to an agreement with the traffic police, that is, with the law, naturally, a person begins to understand that one can buy an interlocutor, a friend, a confessor, and an adviser. . This is completely normal. Please note that human communication is in no shortage now; on the Internet it blooms and smells. There is simply such a law: modern man values ​​only what he paid for. A nutritionist I knew once, when asked why his diet costs so much money, answered very precisely: a cheap diet will not work. Having paid little, a person will not be able to limit himself in food, and if he pays a lot, he will follow these instructions. So it is here. You only believe the advice you paid for. Appreciate the friendship you bought. A person begins to understand that if money is invested in something, then it is serious, and if it is free, it is most likely a scam. You will see, we will live to see a time when free sex will be suspicious, when it will seem to you that the girl is doing it for a reason, but to film you, to blackmail you. And if it’s for money, then everything is fair (laughs - editor’s note).

Yuri Kublanovsky, poet:

I would say that such a service is very symptomatic. When high values ​​are devalued, when they are replaced by glamor, propaganda of prosperity and the thirst for success, when dubious figures of show business and mass culture are given to us as exemplars, whom young people in the provinces begin to imitate, then a heart-to-heart conversation can be bought for money. In this case, a heart-to-heart conversation becomes a business. It seems to me that this is another round of social immorality.

There are already people growing up who will never read The Brothers Karamazov, Anna Karenina... For whom any cultural, mental, spiritual effort is unnecessary if it does not bring profit. Personally, I can't imagine anyone who needs a friend to borrow.

Nowadays, many people are facing the same problem. The problem of lack of friends. Is it any wonder at the current situation if we spend most of our time at work, and communicate, at most, with virtual acquaintances in in social networks. Sometimes it seems to us that we have dozens, hundreds, and perhaps thousands of a wide variety of acquaintances. But we are unlikely to ever meet many (if not all) of them. And all our communication and friendship will continue to consist of sending soulless emails. We have long traded real, live communication for virtual conversations. This is probably why many of us simply don’t have real friends with whom we can go to the park, to the cinema, or just sit and chat in a cozy place.

How to satisfy an unusual need?

In connection with all of the above and, perhaps, something else, a new, rather unusual need has emerged in society. The need for real communication with real friends. And, it must be said that many are willing to pay for such an opportunity. Pay with real paper money. And since a whole potential army of clients has formed who want to have a boyfriend or girlfriend, then, naturally, there were enterprising citizens who were able to satisfy this need.

First in the USA, then in Japan, and later around the world, unusual agencies began to appear offering to take. Who would have thought that people's desire to make real friends, even temporarily, is so strong that it can give rise to a new and unusual area of ​​business. Now you can rent friends even in our country. At least in Moscow, such a service is somewhat popular.

Potential clients for unusual businesses

Before moving on to the essence of this business idea, it is worth saying a few words about those without whom the implementation of this business is simply impossible. We are talking about a potential audience of clients. Who should you target first when opening a friends rental agency?

A portrait of a potential client looks something like this. This is the man himself of different ages- from a schoolboy to - who has no friends of his own. Why might this situation arise? Firstly, due to lack of time: a person is constantly at study or at work, and time for development friendly relations simply no.

Secondly, there is a category of people who, for some time, do not want to be friends with anyone, and later it turns out that they are very lonely and need live communication. This is often observed among modern students and schoolchildren. The Internet replaces everything for them. They live on the World Wide Web, and until the very end they do not want to go beyond it. Months and years pass, and they realize with horror that they do not have their own company, not a single friend with whom they can discuss an interesting topic, go to a club or to.

Thirdly, you can list numerous visitors as potential clients. We are not talking about emigrants from other countries, but about those who change their place of residence. A man arrives in a new city and realizes that he is alone here. He has no friends or relatives. Someone quickly finds it themselves new company, someone has problems with communication.

In addition, there are many who have friends, but have no one to go anywhere with today. For example, a girl doesn’t want to go shopping herself, but all her friends are busy. Or a young man is going to the premiere of a new blockbuster, and all his friends are preparing to take the exam. There can be a lot of situations.

As you can see, the army of potential clients for the friends rental service is quite extensive. In almost any city there will be hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of people who want to use an unusual service.

What is the “rent a friend” service?

Speaking in simple words, this is a common rental service. Only the rental object is not a variety of equipment or sports equipment, but real people. Don’t worry, no one is forcing these people to go out with strangers against their will. After all, they receive their percentage from servicing each client.

The first such service was proposed by American entrepreneur Scott Rosenbaum, who created a website with a database of potential friends. That is, anyone who wants to make a friend can register on the site and gain access to the contacts of others. True, you will have to pay a decent amount for this - 25 dollars.

Japanese entrepreneurs took a slightly different path. They have collected their own base of employee friends, which are divided into certain categories. When a person who wants to rent a friend contacts their agency, they select a candidate who most closely meets all his preferences. The Japanese business model is most often used in other countries of the world. Including in Russia and Ukraine.

As for the percentage of profit, it is usually divided into equal shares between the agency and the person offering his services to a friend. An hour of renting a friend costs the client 500 rubles and more. Naturally, it is very rare for someone to rent a friend for one hour. According to experts, the duration of meetings is on average 4-5 hours. When several friends order at the same time, discounts are common.

How to organize your own business providing services for rent to friends?

This business is very specific. Therefore, there are both pros and cons here. Let's start with the shortcomings. The most important of these is the very small number of orders. Even in large cities, the number of orders each month may not exceed several dozen. And that's the whole point. The fact is that the service is relevant and not in demand. The reason lies elsewhere: the majority of residents of our country, for example, have never heard of anything like this. That is, even those who dream of making at least a temporary friend, sometimes do not even suspect that they have such an opportunity. Of course, this is a matter of time; in a year or two or three, most likely, rental agencies for friends will become commonplace.

Now about positive aspects this. Firstly, there is a lack of competition. The demand for the friend rental service will only grow. This means it’s time to occupy a very promising niche. Secondly, this business idea can be implemented with minimal or no investment.

All you need to do is gather a base of potential friends and offer the service to potential clients. For this, often, you don’t even need an office. And the database can be quickly collected by posting an unusual (and let’s face it, not very dusty) vacancy on a job search site. Something tells us that there will be plenty of people willing. You must understand that it is far away. All candidates can be included in your database. Only sociable, friendly people with a pleasant appearance and good manners are suitable to act as a friend for hire. The better the selection, the greater the chance that your future clients will have a pleasant time in good company and tell their friends or relatives about the new service. And in such a business there is nothing better than word of mouth.

Don’t forget about encouraging employees who are friends with experience and many positive feedback from clients. These representatives of your base can be paid an additional percentage. For example, if newcomers receive half the profit from a transaction with a client, then experienced friends can count on 55 or even 60 percent of the income.

Natasha Fedorenko

“Who will you celebrate with?”- a question that every Russian regularly hears about New Year's Eve from the beginning of December. Only one answer is considered correct: “with a noisy group of friends” - all the rest will make the recipient embarrassed. But if loneliness is really a burden for you, you can technically avoid it by renting friends. Services and applications that help you choose friends have existed since the 2000s and work in Russia. The most popular of them is “Rent a Friend”. For a modest fee, here you can choose a friend according to your taste and, if you pay regularly every hour, have fun.

Russian-speaking journalists managed to try the service for themselves back in 2010 - Elena Nuryaeva described her evening with a man who looked more like a personal growth coach in a column on The Village. The service seemed downright stupid to her. “Snob” columnist Elena Egereeva was more fortunate: once in London, she rented a student, Victoria, who showed her the city, turned out to be a pleasant person, and then became a permanent nanny for her child. One way or another, interest in “friends for rent” is still growing in the world. Let’s figure out who uses the service and how ethical “live rental” is in principle.

Scrapbooking and the GQ guys

Renting friends was invented in Japan, but the idea was quickly picked up all over the world. Most often, the service is used to find friends for the evening. In one of these, called "Friends for Money," they say that their clients are mature women who love going to the movies with a group, but their husbands hate movie theaters, scrapbooking enthusiasts and men whose friends refused to play basketball at the last minute, and they had to buy new opponents online. Many people are looking for dinner companions in unfamiliar cities or people who will keep them company at a concert where real friends don't want to go - the list goes on and on. As a rule, students, housewives, pensioners or broke freelancers are ready to rent out their time.

By the way, you can buy not just a friend, but also a respectable man to take with you to a party. Such options are offered by the “Rent a Gent” service - it has 200 “GQ style” men at its disposal throughout America. An hour's rental will cost about $200 - expensive, but reliable. In principle, this fits the definition of an escort, although without the sexual component. In general, all services of this kind emphasize the platonic nature of the relationship between the client and the customer and prescribe clear regulations, where a handshake is acceptable, but a friendly hug is no longer acceptable.

If the desire to “rent a friend” arose in a foreign country, where the culture is extremely far from the native one, and almost nothing is known about the dishes in the restaurant, you can use the “Rent a Local Friend” service. The main page asks you to select your arrival city, dates, language you speak, and basic interests like “food” or “architecture.” According to the plan, a new acquaintance will show you the city, take you to a decent restaurant and tell you a little about the main attractions. In general, he will perform the function of a guide, although without the appropriate education, but without any veneer of formality. Whether this makes sense if you have a million offers with restaurant ratings and travel blogs at hand, and you can drink wine with a new acquaintance from Tinder, paying only for alcohol, it’s up to you to decide.

Childbirth and broken hearts

What guides service clients who are looking for friends in their city? One of the “professional friends” in an interview with News.com said that clients’ desires can be very different. A young migrant suggested that she marry immediately in order to renew her visa, and a 50-year-old man asked her to come with him to court for divorce proceedings in order to annoy him ex-wife. Of course, there were simpler options when clients asked to portray their girlfriend at a big wedding. And the CEO of the Rent a Friend company, Scott Rosenbaum, admitted how he once paid a man to speak in his place at an important event - Rosenbaum wanted to attend his wife’s birth.

People hire friends to go shopping, guys rent girls to get relationship advice or just to go out to dinner. IN Lately dating apps aren't limited to Tinder for romantic dates and Pure for one-night stands. MeetUp, Nextdoor, Skout and about dozens of other applications work on the principle of geolocation and at the same time are designed to find friends, not partners. However, some people prefer to rent.

Miyabi, 27, has been working as a “friend for money” for several years and believes that this service helps people in difficult situations: “A lot of people are good at communicating online or at work, but not in private life.” Miyabi itself is rented from time to time by parents of young girls so that their daughters, during a period of teenage crisis, can communicate with a nice older girl and discuss problems. Her colleague Yumi was also asked for rather intimate things: one man paid her for the opportunity to discuss his parents' health problems by mail, another read aloud to her a novel that he wrote ten years ago and did not show to anyone. One client broke up with his girlfriend a year ago, then stalked her, so he received a warning from the police and calmed down only after paid meetings with Yumi.

A girl talks about her experience renting a friend in Japan (this is, of course, a parody)

There is a word in Japanese called gaman, which translates to “showing perseverance in the face of hardship and adversity.” "Gaman" very clearly reflects the ethics of the Japanese (it is the third country in the world in the number of suicides). It is not very common to express emotions, not only in front of colleagues, but in front of those closest to you. “With us rental buddies, people can talk about their feelings without having to worry about how real friends will feel about it,” explains Yumi.

However, the fact that friends for rent are more popular in Asia does not mean that Europeans and Americans are more successful in building social connections. The modern world recommends not burdening your loved ones with problems, but immediately going to a psychologist - just remember the famous episode from Sex and the City, where Carrie complains to her friends about a difficult breakup, and she is told that friendship is not really needed for whining about your problems. Or it reminds us of “emotional maintenance” - in which a relationship in a couple or with a friend, where someone takes on a large emotional burden, is perceived as a form of bargaining. If you think rationally, a paid friend turns out to be cheaper than a psychotherapist, removes responsibility from the partner, and generally saves relationships with real friends from awkward situations and overload.

However, a lover of friendship for money faces another danger - a second meeting. The Guardian columnist Tim Dowling writes how, during a meeting with a paid friend, he was seriously worried whether he really liked him. Many clients experience this neurosis: most leave in doubt and never check whether they smiled for money or sincerely. But some still try to ask for a free meeting and, as a rule, are faced with disappointment, which only reinforces their self-doubt. One day, Miyabi agreed to play the role of a bride for a lonely guy whose parents were really fed up with questions. As a result, the client was left with a truly broken heart and told his relatives that the girl chose a career over him.

Rented babies

If “friends for rent” have taken root in the West, playing the role of budget psychotherapists, guides without a diploma, or simply silent lotto competitors, in Asia the industry of selling people has gone much further. During her career, Miyabi had the opportunity to cry at someone else’s funeral, pretend to be a guest at someone else’s wedding, and, together with twenty colleagues, pose for Instagram for high school girls: it was important for the schoolgirl to look cool on social networks. Buying friends for happy group photos is one of the fastest growing trends. The founder of the Japanese company Family Romance, Ishii Yuichi, tells how one of the businessmen paid a lot of money to take five of his employees to Las Vegas - all for photos on Instagram.

Yuichi is the elite in the world of rental friends. All of its employees are professional actors and are able to cope with almost any task. True, there is one rule: one person cannot have more than five families in work at the same time, many of them depict dead or disappeared relatives. Yuichi himself is paid by several mothers to play the role of a visiting father for their children. The man goes to amusement parks with them, talks about personal problems, and in the end watches them cry, persuading him to stay. The legend is the same for everyone: dad found new family, so he can only see them on weekends.

Yuichi also works as a substitute husband - for example, for women who hide their homosexuality from their parents. “The fake wedding will cost two million yen. The point is not only to buy a groom, you need to pay for all the fake guests. Friends, relatives from the groom’s side - everyone is played by our employees,” says Yuichi.

Video instruction on how to be a “local friend”

“In Japan and China it is much more important to have a complete family than in the West. Therefore, it is common for them to rent a missing family member for a wedding, for example, so that a fake uncle can make a beautiful toast,” says Scott Rosenbaum about the experience of his colleagues. During his career, Yuichi managed to apologize for a client-official to management (according to local tradition, he had to kneel before an angry boss), and played more than one lover of wives: “Usually, after betrayal comes to light, husbands demand a meeting with a lover who is interested in this.” time could disappear. So I pretend to be a yakuza to intimidate my husband and avoid consequences.”

One day, his company encountered a pregnant client whose father was dying and whose child was in no hurry to be born. “Then we just gave her the baby for a couple of hours so that the father could look at his grandson before he died,” says Yuichi. Its employees often eat in front of people suffering from anorexia, and the company does not see anything wrong with this. Yuichi believes that his company makes society more balanced by giving people what they don't have - fathers, brothers, partners - at least for a while.

Compensation of traditions and ethics

Clay Kogut, presenting his new app for renting friends Ameego, said: “With Uber we rent a stranger’s car, with Airbnb we rent a stranger’s house, and with Ameego the stranger himself - it’s quite logical.” At the same time, the problem is not only that the Uberization of the economy is reaching the point of absurdity, but that the degree of alienation of people from each other is growing for a million reasons. It's worth thinking about how people who rent themselves out feel, and whether it's ethical to sell good location and emotional resources (even the word "resources" sounds terrible in this context). Rental friends admit that they feel bad after every time they go to work - from the inability to help everyone at once, from the need to refuse free meetings, and simply the unpleasant feeling of being depicted as someone’s missing father.

The modern Internet offers a million ways to find friends: groups on Facebook, the same notorious Tinder, or meetings based on interests organized by local communities. Of course, this contributes to the fragmentation of attention and turning choosing a partner into a trip to the supermarket, but even on a Pure date we still have to make an effort to please the person. Paying for friendship, whatever one may say, is a defeatist position, testifying not only to the laziness of a particular person, but also to the sad state of his affairs in principle.

Renting people is an amazing postmodern tool that supports the rapidly collapsing traditional way of life. We are getting a divorce, but at the same time we are closing the hole in space from the disappeared spouse with a figurehead. We don't want to go to the movies alone, but instead of learning how to do it alone, we rent a stranger. We cannot tell our friends the truth and do not solve this problem with a psychotherapist, but simply buy new friends. And is it even worth insuring friendship with money and paying for self-confidence and relationships by the hour?

Hello Blogopsy friends! How are you? Can you feel spring approaching?

Below my window, cats and teenagers have been screaming for several nights in a row, so yes, I feel it to the fullest. Young people relax, hang out, share new adventures with each other, broken hearts and the like. It's a fun time for those who are not deprived of friends.

And the saddest thing for the rest - singles. Almost every large team has these. At school they are called outcasts and bullied, but at the university no one communicates with them. At first, perhaps, they invite you to general parties, but then they stop.

Question to the audience: Have you ever had one of these?

To be honest, I used to be sure that this was the type of person - closed, avoiding others and not needing friendly communication. However, I was wrong.

It is enough to wander through psychological forums to understand how many young people suffer from a lack of communication, friends, like-minded people or just friends. Those with whom you could go shopping or to the cinema, sit in a cafe, walk in the park, go dancing together.

Such people are usually not invited to general holidays and parties. And if they call, then they are alone there again. If they had a cool boyfriend or girlfriend, you could take them with you - show them off to your friends, introduce them, and then maybe you could find common themes.

A case from one's life

I once witnessed the transformation of a loner into a respected member of a local company. This happened after he brought his girlfriend to the dance - a stunning beauty, and also very sociable. The girl “charmed” everyone around her, and since then they were invited to every party together. And a little later, he was alone (he and his girlfriend soon broke up) - during that time his confidence increased, and with the guys he found common topics and interests.

Question to the audience: How do you like this method? Surely you have noticed a change in your attitude towards a person after meeting his boyfriend/girlfriend?

In any case, I have news for you: now you can buy such a guy/girl! More precisely, rent. The service is called “friend for an hour” and has recently become increasingly popular.

“Friend for an hour” - nnew service in the modern market

Now everyone can rent a girlfriend, friend, passion and do with him what he wants, at a pre-agreed time. Well, that is, not quite “everything”: intimacy is excluded. But the rest - please:

Help from a “rent-a-friend”:

• Need to show off at a party? Increase your reputation among friends? We will help!
• Need to improve your reputation among colleagues? We will do everything for you! We will develop a plan ourselves and implement it ourselves.
• Are you in love with a guy (girl) and want to impress him (her)? No problem! Contact us!

As you can see, the range of services goes far beyond the usual escort at a party. But that's not all:

And:

• There is no one to go to the sports club or to the cinema with, but you feel so sad alone? We will keep you company and give you an unforgettable day!
• No one to vent to, no one to gossip with or discuss your favorite books? Contact us - we will find like-minded people with whom you will definitely be interested. Online or in real life. (Addition from me: and the quality is guaranteed - the interlocutor will support the conversation, and will comfort you, and will remain silent - listen when necessary, and share his sorrows if you want).
• It is necessary to create visibility large quantity friends or relatives at an important event? You don't have to worry - we'll help!

And so on and so forth. In short, you understand me - now you can buy anyone, anytime. Prices vary: from 250 rubles to several thousand per hour. The minimum order is usually 2 hours. Participants and customers must be over 18 years old, but minors should not despair. This point can be bypassed by contacting the agency directly and agreeing on special conditions.

Question to the audience: How do you like this service? Here are a couple of examples: USLUGADRUG.ru, ffr - Friend for Rent and the most interesting: Alibi Privat Service.

I anticipate ardent negativity from readers: you still can’t buy real friends. As my friend (a real one :-)) recently remarked: “The idea is cool. It’s just somehow strange - you communicate, share with a person, have a great time. And in the end you pay for it.”

Are you sad and bored, and have no one to give you a hand in a moment of spiritual adversity? Don't worry, a friend will definitely come to the rescue... A friend for rent. The Western trend is gradually taking root in Russia. MIR 24 TV channel correspondent Anna Derkach was not left alone and revealed all the pros and cons of short-term friendship.

They met for the first time. To break up after an hour, for which one will pay the other money. Varya and Lena are the type who buy and sell communication. They are friends for hire.

“What should a person do who at this moment just wants to talk to a close friend so that they will listen to him? Maybe buying attention isn't moral. But this is some kind of way out,” explains participant Elena Yurchenko.

Lena is a freelance programmer. As much as you work, you earn as much; in this case, time is the most expensive resource. That's why his girlfriend put him into action. Goes with someone to the cinema, shopping, or like today - ride a Segway. Only Varya was scared. So I decided to hire a friend.

Varya is a future psychologist. You need constant practice, friends, she laughs, she has already worked on everyone. He is looking for new interlocutors, but there are not many people willing to pour out their souls for free. But for a reward - please. Lena can make friends for money and pretend to be a patient.

“You can’t always tell your relatives something; you have some secrets of your own. And here I saw a person for the first time, I spoke out, even if he condemns you, you will never see him again. You do not care. You have already received your dose of emotions and are inspired,” explains rental friend Varvara Alekhina.

Friends for an hour is a new Moscow feature. Originally from the West. You can even rent a whole family there. For example, a wife with children and a mother-in-law in addition. They will not only cook and wash, but to complete the picture, they will also create a scandal out of the blue. And while in the States this is the norm, in Russia psychologists are sounding the alarm.

As psychologist Lyudmila Polyanova says, our hearts are gradually being conquered by fast food, which has now moved into the sphere of relationships.

“We used to intercept food on the go, but now we intercept communication and friends. For specialists these are clients, but for society this is a disaster. After all, we have forgotten how to communicate, make friends, then what awaits us tomorrow?” - says the psychologist.

Communication for money, says Lyudmila Polyanova, is about desperate loneliness. Loneliness in the metropolis. The hunger for communication is severe among millions, and many are willing to pay for the illusion of someone else's concern.

However, psychologists urge you to look for the positive in everything. For some people, friends can distract them from gadgets for an hour. If such real communication helps someone escape from the virtual, that’s already good. And, as we know, everything good comes at a price.