Sorry to disappoint if you were expecting a blog entry about catering or cars, in fact, the couldn’t be further from that even if I tried! Hold on to your seat and put down that cup of coffee or tea before you proceed. Let talk about the mind-boggling range of “rentals” available out there that have shocked and spooked me so much that I simply had to share my thoughts with you.
We are all familiar with the usual rentals – catering (and all the services it entails), cars, airplanes, venues, escorts, etc. not to mention the long standing traditions in some cultures of professional criers at funerals or proxy brides / grooms. But how do you feel about grandparents for rent? I kid you not. I first ran into this concept in Germany although it didn’t originate there but in Los Angeles. Why am I not surprised? It has been a roaring success worldwide and as families become more and more decentralised and scattered around the global, the accessibility to grandparents is no longer as easy as it used to be. When my daughter was growing up, for example, visits with grandparents was always involved a transcontinental trip and therefore the visits were limited to an annual basis, unless we happened to be based in the same country at that particular time. I definitely belong to the culture and sector in society that believes that healthy families have three generations present and interacting with one another, so if the blood relative is not present, why not provide the children with the opportunity of interacting with and learning from a grandparent? Of course, there are also situations where you have three generations living under the same roof where they are all ready to throttle one another into intergalactic oblivion!
The rent-a-grandparent was the most harmless kick-off to this list. Next we have rent-a-pet. Not sure about committing to a pet on a long-term basis? You can either try pet-sitting or renting a pet. This will allow you to experience different pets before you decide with finality and commit time and treasure. For me this opens up a whole new debate about the psychological effects on the animals in these situations, and how they deal with emotional attachments / detachments, in addition to being shuttled back and forth. On the other hand, I find rent-a-pet more humane than adopting a pet and then dumping it on the roadside or shelter simply because you or the family couldn’t handle the responsibility or costs.
Senior citizens get lonely for a number of reasons. Either their spouse and contemporaries have all passed away or they themselves are no longer physically able to be out and about alone. Assisted living or homes for the aged may cater to the logistical and sometimes medical needs but the essence of companionship is sorely lacking in many cases. For this there is rent-a-companion-for senior-citizens. This person is neither a caregiver nor housekeeper of any kind, but simply a companion to go to the theatre, a restaurant, maybe even spend the day at the beach or the park. It is about human interaction and encounter, making the senior citizens feel included and remain active participants of life.
Then comes rent-a-friend. I stumbled on this a couple of months ago quite by accident. If you are socially insecure for whatever reason, or maybe even new to a place and have no idea where to find a friend and don’t want to feel so alone, you can rent a friend to show you around and bridge the gap until you find your own network. The problem I have here is the equating of human friendship as a commodity and service. It essentially invalidates the true nature of discovery and natural interconnectedness that evolves from presence, essence, and communication. Friendship, true friendship, is nurtured never bought, and certainly not rented.
Even worse is the concept of rent-an-online-friend, which for me is a clear indication of how pathetic human interaction has become in the digital age. It never fails to irk me how many people are incapable of carrying on a normal face-to-face conversation without gadgets these days. For the current teenagers and tweens who were severe affected by social distancing during the COVID years, their inability to form solid friendships without the aid of AI is disconcerting. Instead of being outdoors in the fresh air and interacting with their peers they are couped up in their rooms glued to the tablet / laptop / desktop with their virtual friends or online friends. For the parents out there, I truly hope you know the difference! But know that the cross-generational social inadequacies have reached a point where it is deemed socially acceptable to book or rent an online friend instead of having a live one present to call up or hang out with. These are the times I am glad my parents and grandparents are no longer around. It would be so heartbreaking for them to see how society has deteriorated so much that we resort to AI to solve our human problems.
FrogDiva Thoughts 