“Drinking buddy for an hour”: drunk business. Drinking buddy for an hour Announcement drinking buddy

Drinking alcoholic beverages has long been part of the table culture of our people. Drinking a glass of wine or a glass of strong drink helps friends have a heart-to-heart talk and tell an understanding person about their problems. And if a friend cannot come to visit you, this is not a reason to refuse a feast and a sincere conversation. All you have to do is call the “Drinking Buddy on Call” service and the dispatcher will choose a partner who will keep you company at the table.

The “Drinking buddy on call” service may become popular in large cities of Russia. Firstly, this is due to the high popularity of feasts among Russians, as well as an almost ritualistic attitude towards them. Secondly, the modern pace of life means that many people cannot keep in touch with their friends. Thirdly, at certain moments in life a person is ready to give a lot in order to talk at the table with a stranger.

How does the “Drinking Buddy on Call” service work?

The service for providing drinking buddies to order should consist of two departments. The first department will perform dispatch functions and also determine the customer's needs. The successful work of the dispatch department will allow you to select the most suitable drinking buddy for each client.

An entrepreneur must take a responsible approach to the selection of tools that will be used to determine the needs of customers. For example, needs can be identified during a telephone conversation between the dispatcher and the client, as well as based on the results of filling out a questionnaire. Dispatchers must have special training to correctly interpret the results of interviews and surveys.

One way to solve this problem could be to appoint a qualified psychologist with psychodiagnostic skills to the position of head of the dispatch department.

The second department of the service under discussion will directly deal with the provision of on-call drinking buddy services. The success of the service largely depends on the professionalism of the staff of this department. It should employ specialists of different ages and genders, with different life experiences, views, and education. This is necessary for the most successful selection of a drinking companion for each client.

By contacting the “Drinking Buddy on Call” service, the client informs the dispatcher of the criteria that his drinking partner must meet. Service specialists select the most suitable candidate from the employees of the relevant department. A professional drinking companion arrives at the location specified by the customer, keeping him company.

A professional drinking companion should “talk” the interlocutor, allow him to open up and talk about his problems and experiences. It is the ability to listen and support the client that is one of the mandatory skills of an employee of the “Drinking Buddy on Call” service. At the same time, the service employee should not end the evening “under the table.”

Required Resources

Office rent and wages for qualified employees are the main cost items of the service for providing a drinking buddy to order. And if professional drinking buddies can receive remuneration according to a piece-rate bonus system, then dispatchers will have to be hired as part of the company’s staff.

Since it is people who determine the success of the company in question, you will have to invest in personnel selection. One way to solve the problem of selecting specialists is to contact a recruiting agency, which takes payment for its services not from the employer, but from the applicant.

Employees of the “Drinking Buddy on Call” service will be able to combine business with pleasure, communicating at the table with pleasant people at their expense. Will this business be pleasant and interesting for you?

Dmitry Dementiy

In Russia, “Drinking buddy for an hour” services are opening one after another. Among their clients are employees of the criminal investigation department and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, business travelers and simply lonely people. A 1-LINE news agency correspondent talked with professional on-call drinking buddies who work hourly and learned about all the nuances of this difficult profession.

TO As it turned out, there are no organized companies in this business in Krasnoyarsk yet; there are only certain enthusiasts who work part-time in this area. Finding drinking buddies on call in our city is quite difficult, but it is possible. They distribute advertisements about their services only on social networks. A girl and a guy work on the phone number that we managed to find on the Internet. After the offer to talk about their work, the “drinking buddies” were very surprised, embarrassed, but agreed to the interview: “Let's meet in a cafe in the city center, but without alcohol”.

And so, on the appointed day and hour, a pleasant-looking woman and a man about 37 years old came to meet with the journalist. They decided to talk with one condition - their names would be changed in the interview. We ordered fruit tea and started an interesting conversation.

How did you get the idea to become “drinking buddies for an hour”?

Alexei: I worked part-time as a taxi driver and once drove a tipsy client. When I delivered him to his destination, he invited me to have a drink at his place. I refused, but he offered me a tidy sum of money and told me not to worry because he liked girls. We ended up having a nice sit and talk about Black Sabbath and The Rolling Stones. I play guitar very well and I remember we sang “Satisfaction.” It was from this incident that everything started to happen. I started posting an ad for a drinking buddy for an hour, and people started calling me. I meet with regular clients almost every Friday.

Svetlana: It was after a conversation with Alexey that I mistakenly decided that being a “drinking buddy” was a fairly easy way to earn money. Alexey had already posted an advertisement on social networks about the “drinking buddy for an hour” service. He called me and invited me to chat about an important matter. I already thought that Alexei had been swallowed up by a “pyramid” or network business.



It turns out that you knew each other well before?

Svetlana: Yes, we knew each other quite well before. We studied together at university and often vacationed in the same companies. Then fate separated us. I still don’t know why Alexey decided to call me.

Alexei: During your student years, you were the life of the party. She always told interesting stories, sang great, and your infectious laughter lifted everyone’s spirits. And I called Sveta to tell her about “drinking buddies for an hour.” Many men wanted to talk to a girl over a drink and refused to have a male interlocutor.

Svetlana: I agreed. In reality, everything turned out to be not as smooth as I expected. My husband leaves for a long period of time for work - and with my work I brighten up the evenings not only for clients, but also for myself. I communicate with people and learn something new and interesting.

Svetlana, don’t you have a main job?

Svetlana: My husband is against me working. He wants to fully support me and this kind of life, to put it mildly, has made me a little bored. I feel how many women are jealous of me now.

Do you gain new emotions from your part-time job as a “drinking buddy” that you lack in everyday life?

Svetlana: Yes, I enjoy working as a “drinking buddy”. Some women take lovers out of boredom, but I spend my time in this interesting way.

Aren't you afraid to go out and work for men? I assume that many clients, intoxicated with alcohol, pester you... Do you have a strict condition that you do not provide intimate services?

Svetlana: Yes, the absence of sex is my main condition for visiting a client. I'll be honest, there were some minor problems with this, but they were fairly minor. Men sometimes flirt sweetly, sometimes boast about their love affairs. Some are complete scoundrels: one of my clients showed me a notebook that he has kept since he was 22 years old, in which he keeps track of his victories in bed and positions in sex. He said that he never showed this notebook to anyone. I advised him to publish a book based on his love affairs. He seemed to take my joke seriously and thought for a minute. Perhaps the domestic version of the novel “Fifty Shades of Gray” will soon appear on the shelves of bookstores, and then this book will become a world bestseller.

My partner Alexey always knows the address of the client to whom I go. I take pepper spray with me just in case, but I have never had to use it.

Alexey, have you ever had intimate relationships with clients?

Alexei: Now I am a completely free man, two years ago I got divorced and take intimate liberties in my work. Often the women I come to want to get rid of the feeling of loneliness and feel desired and sexy. From time to time, the conversation with clients turns into flirting, and then into sex. This is not paid separately; it is included in the hourly wage for drinking together, but some women pay extra for this.

Once a pretty girl called me at two in the morning. As it turned out, she came from a club where all her friends found boyfriends, but she did not. Frustrated, she came home, uncorked the wine and called me. As a result, we didn't have any sex. She complained to me for two hours that all normal men were snatched up. So she dozed off in my arms.

With women, the conversation always turns to personal life. Often people complain to me about their husbands during conversations. They say that real men have disappeared, shredded, become infantile...

I have a regular client who immediately told me that intimate relationships between us are excluded. We go to theater premieres, restaurants and cinemas. I’ll tell you a secret, this is a fairly famous woman in Krasnoyarsk.



What do Krasnoyarsk residents usually want to talk about?

Svetlana: We try to approach each client individually. Someone is crying into their vest, some are bragging about their achievements at work or complaining about life. Many people want to receive practical life advice or discuss a certain life situation. In a conversation, you need to adhere to the client’s points of view and subtly capture the nuances of the conversation.

Alexei: I will add that when it comes to politics, you need to support the client’s opinion in order to feel some kind of unity. Once in a conversation I agreed with a client on everything, and he said to me: “Why do you agree with me? Do you have your own opinion? As a result, we discussed various political topics, Russia’s internal and external policies. At the end, the client shook my hand and said: “You are a smart guy. We had a great argument."

Do you go to clients together?

Svetlana: Challenges come in many different forms. Sometimes they call from a bored company, they want to sing songs with a guitar. We come and give a small concert, Alexey plays and I sing. It turns out well. We are looking for a producer to promote us. We already have a name - “Drinking Buddies”.

Have there been any funny incidents in your unusual work?

Alexei: By the way, once a group of friends called us together because they didn’t have enough people to play “Mafia”.

Svetlana: I remember after “Mafia” we played “Monopoly” and “Activity”. It was a funny evening.

As for an interesting and funny story, it happened during the economic forum in Krasnoyarsk. A man with an accent invited me to talk and have a drink. My client turned out to be a German who speaks Russian very well. He came with the Moscow delegation to participate in the forum. In the evening, all his colleagues scattered in search of women and thrills in Krasnoyarsk, and he decided to spend the evening in an unusual way. He invited me to drink Russian vodka together and listen to stories about Siberia. He also told me that he was transferred to work in Moscow, and his wife and child did not want to move to Russia.

Another funny thing happened to me recently. I arrived to visit a client. We talked for two hours and suddenly he fell asleep right at the table. I couldn’t wake her up, but the apartment was opened with a key, so I couldn’t get out of it. The snoring was intense! In the morning I made breakfast, and he woke up only to the smell of delicious food. For a long time he could not remember who I was, but when he remembered, he paid for the entire time I was in his apartment.

Alexei: One day I came to see a woman, we drank and talked. Suddenly her friends came to visit her in the evening. She was embarrassed to tell them that I was a “drinking buddy on call.” I had to improvise on the fly and come up with a legend that I was her cousin.



How much do your services cost?

Alexey: We pay hourly. We charge 1,000 rubles per hour, and 2,000 rubles on weekends and holidays. Each visit is individual, the cost is discussed with each client in advance.

How often are you called on and does seasonality affect your work?

Alexei: When my friends found out what I was doing, they said it was a bad idea. Why do people need a drinking buddy on call? After all, it’s better to buy more alcohol with that money. But it turned out the other way around. I make quite a good living from this. We have approximately 3-4 calls per week.

Svetlana: During the past New Year's holidays, we literally had everything planned out by the hour. The peak of calls usually occurs in spring and autumn - men feel especially lonely at this time.

Alexei: In summer, on the contrary, most calls come from women.

What could make you refuse such work?

Alexei: I'm happy with everything so far. From this I have a fairly stable income. It’s only after this interview that we will most likely have competitors.

Svetlana: My husband is going to change jobs soon and he will no longer be working shifts. We are thinking about having a child, and in such a family cycle, working as a “drinking buddy for an hour” is completely excluded. I plan to work through the upcoming New Year holidays in full, and then Alexey will have to look for a new partner.

This ended the conversation with my “drinking buddies” over a cup of tea. Another client called them. As it turned out, he was promoted at work, and he wanted to share this joy with Svetlana and Alexey. From the phone came:“Take your guitar and come for three hours...”

The interlocutors did not have time to answer the last question: “Why are “drinking buddies for an hour” so popular in the modern world? .

Krasnoyarsk psychologist Oksana Anishchenko answered this question:“Unfortunately, in the modern world the issue of isolating people from each other is becoming more and more acute. If earlier the distance in contact was obvious and its lack was the same: you don’t see a person for a long time and understand that it’s time to meet, but now this distance is being reduced due to messengers.

Quick texting creates the illusion of maintaining contact, but in reality it does not satisfy the person's need for the presence of another. This isolation leads to feelings of loneliness. The “drinking buddy for an hour” service makes it possible to share with someone what is happening inside a person, or to talk about your experiences and do it completely safely for yourself and your loved ones.
And no matter how sad it may sound, it is true: today we are so distanced from each other that we are forced to buy ourselves friends for the feast, so as not to live this ritual alone. But there is another situation when there are no friends, or a loved one has lost (divorce) - a person resorts to this service because of the real loneliness that has become his life. By and large, the performer plays the role of a psychologist. Alas, many people still refuse the services of a psychologist, considering it some kind of weakness or deception.”

Dmitry Popugin


Photo: open sources

Our citizens really love to have a heart-to-heart talk. Discussion of the problems of the universe and collective complaints about sorrows, one might say, are in our blood, and when alcohol is also added to the blood, rainbow shades are added to the black and gray colors of life. Not everyone who wants to pour out their soul along with libations has a worthy listener and interlocutor, and therefore the service of providing such a person may be in demand. The Good Fairy agency, among others, introduced exactly this.

For just 150 hryvnia (575 rubles), the agency manager selects a drinking buddy for the customer based on his wishes. So, for example, a paid dinner partner may have a higher education and be well versed in the intricacies of Kant’s philosophy, or be a treasure trove of jokes. “When communicating with a customer by phone, we draw up a psychological portrait of him, ask what experiences he has now, and accordingly select a drinking companion who more or less suits his character. The main thing is that our employee can listen and maintain an interesting conversation on any topic,” agency head Yulia Peeva told Segodnya.

The feast, by the way, is at the expense of the customer. And for the above 150 hryvnia, communication time is not limited. There are, however, certain restrictions - no sex and no weekly binges with agency employees. The extent to which this restriction is observed is unknown, but “The Good Fairy” itself indicates that women most often order a drinking companion. The latter fact requires special skill from professional drinking buddies. “Sometimes it’s enough for a man to ask one question for him to get excited and start talking about his problems. You can then not interrupt him and just nod. But you need to communicate more softly and beautifully with a woman. Maybe tell something good about her first,” agency employee Gennady Maksimov shares a secret. The most important thing for him is not to get carried away with alcohol at work, but to maintain a conversation (active listening) it is absolutely not necessary to drink a lot. The task is to ease a person’s soul, and not to fall face first into a salad.

The zero degree of familiarity of the customer with the performer “Good Fairy” is indicated among the advantages of the service: it may be easier for a stranger to open up, since nothing in the customer’s life depends on him. In general, the main specialization of the agency is organizing weddings, birthdays and other celebrations. Despite the non-core nature of the on-call drinking buddy service, it is reported (by the agency itself) that from the first days it has become very popular. However, there is an opinion that such an extraordinary undertaking, first of all, is a way for the company to gain fame and make money on its main services.

The other day I was walking to the bus stop in the morning, and a man came towards me. He fired a cigarette. and then, looking into his eyes with hope, he says: “Would you like to drink beer together? I’ll treat you.” I had to refuse, and he went on looking for someone to talk to.
Today everyone is discussing the “Granny for an hour” service, but they forget the most popular in Russia - Drinking buddy for an hour.


Now I know what I will do in retirement)
I can talk on any topic, talk about countries and cities,

There are a lot of advertisements on the Internet.
I speak on various topics, I can get into any position, I listen carefully, I empathize or rejoice (depending on the circumstances), I can read poetry and have a civil conversation (only when sober). Friendly, non-conflicting. With a wide scope, you can sing karaoke. There is no charge, except that we go on a spree, sit and steal the whole lot for your money.

I drink everything. Have a snack or drink at the request of the customer. Conversation on any topic. Age from 20 to 35 years. Marital status - any (it doesn’t matter). One hour 1000 rubles, 2 and 3 hours 500 rubles each. Further by agreement or for health reasons. I drink in different styles.

Even entire companies have their own website)

The head of the agency admits: the service is in great demand. Most clients are women. More often than not, assistance is ordered not in advance, but as an emergency. They don't charge for urgency. However, there is a limitation - no sex or binge drinking.
Psychologists say: such a service can really support a person in difficult times. But it is not recommended to abuse a professional drinking companion. Meanwhile, psychologists ask professional drinking buddies to give regular clients not a discount card, but a psychotherapist’s business card.

It’s just hard work, almost to the point of wear and tear))

Otherwise, many people complain about their lives, that there is no work, but there is plenty of it.
I see the service is in demand. Vlad

 

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