7 STRANGE PROFESSIONS YOU DIDN’T KNOW EXISTED

People can do anything for money. That may have been a truism all this while, but it is steadily becoming the truth. From giving you a hug to feel less lonely to standing in line for you if you don’t have time, this article has some professions you never thought existed.

We all know that money can’t buy everything, but the number of things that it can buy – and the kind of things it can buy – is going up and up every year. In the twenty first century, you can pay money to buy practically anything. Here are a few professions that exist today which would have been thought of as weird or dangerous as recently as a decade ago.

1. Snake milkers
No, these people don’t milk snakes for milk, but they milk them for their venom. Snake venom can be extracted from the world’s most dangerous snakes like rattlesnakes and cobras. One false move and the snake could end up biting you. But do it right and you can sell the venom to hospitals for up to $1000 per gram.

2. Professional bridesmaids
If you don’t have friends for your wedding that will be bridesmaids, you can hire professional bridesmaids who will come to your wedding and pretend to be real ones. You can get an ‘undercover bridesmaid’ for anywhere from $300 to $2000, depending on the depth of services you wish to use.

3. Professional mourners
In England, there is a company called Rent a Mourner which specialises in providing mourners who will mourn for the deceased. You will be able to get a mourner for two hours for roughly $70.

4. Professional cuddlers
Feeling lonely? Want to be held and comforted by another human being? If you don’t have the time to build a real relationship with a friend who will offer the comforts of human touch, you can hire a cuddler for $80 an hour to snuggle with you. But beware, you may end up falling for your cuddle buddy.

5. Ash portrait artists
From the remains of your loved ones, instead of burying them or casting them in a water body, you can have an ash portrait made as a token of remembrance. You can make a necklace or a glass sculpture or anything you like and put it up on your mantel piece. Remember, this is liable to creep people out, so don’t tell them about it.

6. Dog food tasters
These people are human but they work as tasters for dog food products to test their quality. Like human tasters, they evaluate taste, nutritional value and texture, and they usually spit the food out once they taste it.

7. Professional line standers
Not sure what the official name of the profession is, but if you’re too impatient to stand in a line or if you don’t have the time for it, you can hire a line stander to take your place. Understandably, these guys are heavily in demand when a highly anticipated product is due to be out (like an iPhone), and some earn as much as $1000 a week