How would you feel about paying a person to “do nothing” for you? Strange? Well, this is exactly the service that Shoji Morimoto provides. Except that, other than expecting clients to pay for his transportation costs, and food and drinks (where applicable), he charges zero fee for the service itself. Absolutely zero. Now, you are probably thinking – why on earth would anyone do this and even more curiously, why would anybody even want this service? To have someone “do nothing”?

Morimoto came up with this idea after being constantly told by his former boss that it made no difference if he came to work or not, and that he contributed nothing to the company. Unemployed and unmotivated, he reflected upon the notion that a person who “does nothing” could still be of value to society by just being around.

So, he decided to rent himself out for free to test this hypothesis. Things began to unravel once he sent out his first tweet announcing this unique service to the whole world.

“Things can be different simply because someone is there. They don’t have to be there, but if they are, something changes.”

In this book, he gives an intimate account of his life as a rental person and the interesting (and bizarre) requests that came his way. These included to wave a client goodbye on a railway platform, to wait at the finishing line of a marathon (just so a client has motivation to finish the race) and to accompany a lady client sign off her divorce papers.

Morimoto markets his service as a “do nothing” service which, in his own definition, means a minimal amount of effort from his side. He could be accompanying a client to lunch but apart from giving basic responses and occasional nods, he would mostly just listen. He makes it clear that he does not offer advice. At the end of the day, what he is actually offering, in general, is “company”.

“There are a lot of important things that can be talked about with people you don’t know very well or even at all.”

What’s more insightful is his observation that people, despite not knowing him at all, can be quiet open in sharing their personal grievances and problems. Some even admitting to struggling to open up to their loved ones. These people expressed their gratitude for his service as it meant that they were able to take some burden off their chests.

“In truth, closeness quite often makes people keep their mouths shut.”

Ultimately the message is this: sometimes people just need company and that “nothing” to one person may mean the world to another. So never think yourself unworthy! Ah, what a refreshing read!