Meet Joe

Are you a friendless loser living in the Chicago area? Does your social circle consist of an elderly neighbor who gets you drunk on Schnapps and tells you about the war? Have you failed to utilize your Friendster account to successfully make friends? Stop beating yourself up and Meet Joe.

 Meet Joe is friend-finding service in the Chicago area. And the maestro of this whole operation is... Joe. Seriously, Joe Drake is just a regular guy. Basically, he's a former corporate-event planner who introduces you to new friends in the city based on what you tell him about yourself and the kinds of people you want to meet. Think of him as the friend-pimp who knows just what you like and how you like it.

Who is Joe? Here are his words:

• I have a dog and I like bacon cheeseburgers.
• I'm like the Asian kid in the Goonies but with no accent.

This is the most ridiculous idea for a business, and that's what makes it awesome. Joe's just some ordinary guy, and for $29.99 he'll meet you and try to find you some friends. Sometimes he'll just introduce you to one of his friends. Other times he'll pair you with another client. Who knows what he'll do for you. Joe is unpredictable. Regardless, Joe is for real. He won't ask you to invest in his pyramid scheme or get lewd in his car, he just knows it sucks to be friendless in Chicago and would like to help. There's no telling what economic hardship drove Joe to wanting to be your friend-finder, but it's pretty cool of him to do it.