View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
|
The Mad Manga Massacre
Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 1171
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:07 pm
|
|
|
Wow... just wow this is depressing.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Lucis7
Joined: 12 Feb 2013
Posts: 4
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:17 pm
|
|
|
This is really sad, the idea of a disposable friend is completely opposite with what friendship means.
I wonder if people are willing to rent a friend to listen to you when you are sad? Or when you are having problems with your family or with your couple?
How can you pay a complete stranger to listen to your problems when they don't know who you are as a person so they can't really help?
oh wait, that's a therapist´s job....
|
Back to top |
|
|
Fletcher1991
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
Posts: 514
Location: Long Island, NY
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:27 pm
|
|
|
Only in Japan.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Kougeru
Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5560
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:34 pm
|
|
|
Blood- wrote: |
Quote: | In an interview by the Asahi Shimbum, one of the company's returning clients said he at first balked at the idea of paying for a hang-out partner. However, after several strained encounters with an ex-girlfriend that ended with a threat of a restraining order, he decided to give Client Partners a shot. |
Garsh, I can't imagine why he needs to rent a friend.
Anyway, y'all, Blood- Friendship Industries is now open for bidniz. I think you'll find my rates very reasonable. No spooning, sorry. |
I'm assuming it's the reverse of what you think. He probably got to get a restraining order against her.
|
Back to top |
|
|
FenixFiesta
Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:56 pm
|
|
|
Lucis7 wrote: | This is really sad, the idea of a disposable friend is completely opposite with what friendship means.
I wonder if people are willing to rent a friend to listen to you when you are sad? Or when you are having problems with your family or with your couple?
How can you pay a complete stranger to listen to your problems when they don't know who you are as a person so they can't really help?
oh wait, that's a therapist´s job.... |
Mind you culturally in Japan is it extremely frowned upon to seek professional psychiatric help "because it would look bad upon the family", so pretty much "rent a friend" would be the only thing culturally acceptable.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Agent355
Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:26 pm
|
|
|
Yup. I see the point of this. People are hired to do minor chores all the time (clean house, watch kids, deliver groceries, etc), and in a country that doesn't have a very open view of therapists, why not have a less threatening, cheaper option?
My only question is, where are the bros-for-hire?
|
Back to top |
|
|
risingdarknessdragon
Joined: 17 Aug 2011
Posts: 24
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:32 pm
|
|
|
I'm lonely and don't have any true friends any more, but by no means will I use a service like this. On the flip side, it sounds like a good idea in theory...
|
Back to top |
|
|
Joe Carpenter
Joined: 29 Oct 2011
Posts: 503
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:34 pm
|
|
|
thank you for being a friiiiiiiiiend
|
Back to top |
|
|
Shiratori1
Joined: 10 Jan 2013
Posts: 300
Location: Los Angeles
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:35 pm
|
|
|
penguintruth wrote: | I'd rather talk to myself than pay somebody to pretend they're my friend. Where are these people's dignity? |
Man......get over yourself pal!
|
Back to top |
|
|
SnaphappyFMA
Joined: 14 Jan 2009
Posts: 216
Location: California
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:40 pm
|
|
|
There was a Japanese live-action movie about the darker side of this: Noriko's Dinner Table. In the movie a person could rent a group of people who pretended to be like the person's family and give them a "happy family gathering" for an evening. I was depressed for a week after I watched that movie. -_-
|
Back to top |
|
|
Spotlesseden
Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: earth
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 11:00 pm
|
|
|
Surrender Artist wrote: | Japan... just... just seems so sad. I almost want to give it a hug.
I bet I could get them to pay me to do it. |
Japan? This is all over the world. They just do it more publicly. Not much different than escort service in US. yes , some escort does not involve sex. I watched a documentary about High-end escort, they said most of their clients are high profile people and most of the time, they just want to talk.
In London, there is already a rent a friend service.
I think in Korean and China, there are a rent-a-date services. You can even bring your date home to act as your gf or bf.
|
Back to top |
|
|
taster of pork
Joined: 11 Nov 2008
Posts: 595
Location: My House
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 11:15 pm
|
|
|
Haven't the Japanese ever heard of a psychiatrist?
|
Back to top |
|
|
Kikaioh
Joined: 01 Jun 2009
Posts: 1205
Location: Antarctica
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 11:20 pm
|
|
|
Surrender Artist wrote: | Japan... just... just seems so sad. I almost want to give it a hug.
I bet I could get them to pay me to do it. |
I laughed at this, with a twinge of sadness because that's basically what's happening here.
penguintruth wrote: | I'd rather talk to myself than pay somebody to pretend they're my friend. Where are these people's dignity? |
This is sort of how I felt too. They're not really friends if you have to pay them, right? It's an illusion of companionship, and the service is at odds with the basic problem it's trying to address.
That said, if you look at it from a therapeutic perspective, it's not necessarily a bad thing (though in that case, they might be better off getting pets instead).
|
Back to top |
|
|
walw6pK4Alo
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
|
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 11:36 pm
|
|
|
taster of pork wrote: | Haven't the Japanese ever heard of a psychiatrist? |
In all honestly, not likely. Mental health issues are viewed with disdain, so the idea of needing professional assistance is probably just not something they partake in.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Hastati
Joined: 03 Feb 2009
Posts: 34
|
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:29 am
|
|
|
Kikaioh wrote: |
I laughed at this, with a twinge of sadness because that's basically what's happening here.
This is sort of how I felt too. They're not really friends if you have to pay them, right? It's an illusion of companionship, and the service is at odds with the basic problem it's trying to address.
That said, if you look at it from a therapeutic perspective, it's not necessarily a bad thing (though in that case, they might be better off getting pets instead). |
I think therapy is a good way to look at it. The impression I get is that those who use this service are fully aware of this "illusion of companionship," and view it as a convenient alternative to the hardships of their past relationships and as a simple outlet for basic communication and combating the spiralling nature of solitude. You can compare it to Host/Hostess services in Japan, which are of course much more expensive and manipulative, but I think there is a mutual understanding here that isn't so easily categorized within common understandings of the word "friendship."
By paying for this experience, you would create a handy anchor, or a safety net, an excuse to not have to rely on the other person. You know that the money means they aren't your friend, and because of that you don't have to take any risks. It's easy to label this as cowardice or undignified, but I think that shared beliefs, dignity, or any of the typical hallmarks of friendship can become irrelevant in the face of loneliness and the desperation of everyday life. Ultimately, I don't think this differs greatly from therapy, counseling, or any other form of "arranged" human contact, and I don't think the money degrades the individuals involved. What matters is, of course, how the company itself treats its customers and personnel, but I think the concept itself has merit.
Last edited by Hastati on Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:33 am; edited 1 time in total
|
Back to top |
|
|
|