Do Nothing Man

Shaan tells a story about a unique business in Japan called "Rental People Who Do Nothing."

"There's a guy in Japan who I read about who is making $80,000 a year for doing nothing. They call him the 'do nothing man.' What happened is this guy was at work and his boss called him a 'do nothing man.' He was insulting him, saying, 'Dude, you just do nothing, you don't really add anything, you don't provide any value.'

The guy thought to himself, 'Is there value in society for a man who does nothing?' He went online and posted a tweet saying, 'I'm starting a new service called rental people who do nothing.' Basically, he would be a companion, a friend who will do nothing.

You rent him out and he'll go hang out with you, but he says nothing. It's pretty much a silent companion, completely non-physical, non-sexual - basically an introvert for hire. People will either have a task they need to go do, like an errand, or they just feel really lonely and want somebody to have tea with. He'll come and sit, and he won't really say anything. If you ask him a question, he'll give you a simple answer, but it's really just the presence of another human body.

This guy made $80,000 in a year renting himself out. He then wrote a book, a memoir called 'Rental People Who Do Nothing.' He's continued to do this for years now. He did it before COVID, had to stop during the pandemic, and then started it back up again. Now he doesn't even charge for the hangout - he used to charge $68 for a session, but now he just says, 'Cover the food and travel, and I'll hang out with you for free.'"