- [Narrator] They say money can't buy happiness,
but can it buy friendship?
In order to find answers, I posted an ad on Craigslist
seeking someone that I would pay to be my BFF,
while testing their skills as the ultimate friend.
This is the story of how I bought a friend off Craigslist.
- I am being paid to be somebody's best friend.
Seems interesting, I guess.
- Thank you for coming.
I'm excited.
My hope is that even though I'm buying your friendship today
that that's just an investment,
and that'll be as valuable, if not more so,
than a real, genuine friendship.
- Yeah, no, same.
- Do you think you're a good friend?
- I would say so, yeah.
I hope so.
- Why do you think you'll be a good friend
to me, specifically?
- I'm very blunt.
If you're doing something weird with somebody
and I'm like, "oh, man, like, chill, don't do that."
- As your friend, I'm going to look out
for your best needs.
- Aww.
- I'm going to show you love, and I want you
to show me love.
- Okay.
- Do you think you're up for the task?
- I, yeah, I think I'm up for this task.
- There are many variables when it comes to friendship,
but I want to highlight three very important things to me.
- Yeah.
- Loyalty.
I don't want you sleeping with anyone I'm dating.
- Yeah.
- I don't want you coming after my family.
Secondly, honesty.
I tell you you look good in a shirt, I'm being honest.
What did you say, Ahmed?
- I said, "That's a nice shirt."
- It's great, $24.99.
- [Ahmed] Yeah, yeah.
- Great value.
Lastly, I want you to stand up for me.
- [Ahmed] Yeah.
- Okay, if someone's coming up and wants to stab me,
I expect you to take the knife.
- If we accidentally do kill him,
we're hiding that murder, though.
- If we kill someone, are reporting it to the police
because it is against the law to murder someone.
- Right.
- [Narrator] Did Ahmed even have what it takes
to be my best friend?
I decided to get to know him a little better
before I tested his skills.
- What's your favorite holiday?
- Well, my family's Muslim, so we have a Big Eid
and a Small Eid.
- Oh.
- They're both pretty poppin'.
How about you, what's your--?
- I love Christmas.
- Yeah, that's a classic.
- I feel people are just generally kinder
during the holidays.
What's the most embarrassing thing
that happened to you in college?
- One time,
(chuckles)
I got all my food in the dining hall,
and I trip over a flat surface,
- Oh, God.
- And I spilled everywhere, and I'm on the ground,
food everywhere after I just finished paying.
- [Narrator] Ahmed seemed to be fun,
but I still wasn't convinced he was best friend material.
Friendship is about good times and bad times.
My first test for Ahmed was to see
if he could be vulnerable with me.
My last serious relationship was about two years ago.
The thing that sticks to me about that relationship
is the way it ended.
It didn't end in some dramatic blowout,
there was no screaming or yelling,
it just, life happened, and it just ended.
You spend two years with someone, and it's just--
sometimes it's just, it's sad to look back
and think about what could have been.
- That's the way life goes, you know?
Things that bring you down can bring you
to a different direction.
- Here's to that.
- How about you, do you have anything you wanna share?
- All right, there was a hard time in my life
where I was a junior in college.
In my family, there's a lot of pressure to get good grades,
and to do well in school.
And I was supposed to do this fast-track program
that my university had.
I had studied, and I'd taken practice tests,
and you have score a 650.
And at the same time, I was also applying to be an RA.
I took the test and had my final interview for RA
all in the same week, so I finished the exam
and scored a 540.
Later that evening, I'd found out I got rejected
from the RA program as well.
I had called my mom right afterwards
to tell her both bad news at the same time, I guess,
to kind of like rip the Band-Aid off,
and she didn't know this, but I was low-key crying
on the phone, and I was holding the phone away from me
because it was hurting so much.
So I was like, "God damn."
I just screwed up big.
- Some things just don't happen for a reason,
and then sometimes better things will come.
- [Narrator] For the next test, I organized for a co-worker
to run into our set and start bullying me.
My hope was that Ahmed would step up and defend my honor.
- Oh, shit. - Like at bars, or something.
- Could you tell me a story about one of those times?
- Yeah...
- Hey, did you hear the news?
- Uh, no.
- Someone told me about your video idea.
I think it's awful.
- He just came out of nowhere.
I was actually genuinely unsure what that was.
- [Bully] I'm sorry, man.
I'm actually not that sorry.
- [Narrator] I waited for Ahmed with baited breath.
If he couldn't stand up for me,
our entire friendship could crumble.
- Wow, hold on, this is my friend you're talking to,
so if you could not, that'd be great.
He is my friend for life, right here.
And he's a great person, and his video idea was phenomenal,
because look how great of friends we are.
I was like, I don't think this kid's gonna pull a knife,
but I was like, pretty close, pretty close,
he's getting oddly aggressive.
- What you did just now, I'm never gonna forget that.
- Of course. - You know what?
- I mean, that's pretty--
- [Narrator] I decided to send him on one final mission
to determine it all.
I wanted Ahmed to know me well enough on a best friend level
to buy me a personalized gift.
(uplifting, inspirational music)
- Earlier today, we talked about the tryout friend.
Honesty, loyalty, and whether or not you stand up
for your friends.
I will be evaluating you on those three qualities.
When it came to honesty, we had a very intimate moment
in the pop-up park, and I genuinely was very moved
by the story you told about the hardship you went through
in college, because we connected on a level
that not a lot of friends do.
You gave me an A+.
- Yeah!
Yes, right here.
All right, that's all right.
- Still more to come. - Okay, all right.
- Loyalty.
Loyalty is a very important trait in a relationship.
And today, we built loyalty through the times
we shared together.
I will give you a B+.
- I'll take it, I'll take it.
- Standing up for each other.
Today, I was viciously attacked.
He attacked me with his words for a good solid 15 seconds
before you said anything.
So for that, I will give you an A-.
- Okay, wow, woo.
- I believe the last thing that I can evaluate you on
is the gift that you bought me.
- That's true.
- Should you close your eyes? - Should I close my eyes?
- Yeah, close your eyes. - I need to close my eyes.
- Close your eyes, okay.
All righty.
Open them up.
You said you love Christmas so much,
I decided to bring Christmas to you.
- Oh my God!
Ahmed!
You shouldn't have!
- I had to.
(laughing)
You are very passionate about Christmas,
and I saw that in the store, and just knew it.
- I think that when people hear that I was paying you
to be my best friend for a day,
they probably thought I was crazy.
But I honestly think that today,
we've built a good chemistry.
I think that there is something here,
and I don't know what you're doing this weekend,
but Friday I'm going to a Halloween party.
- Are you?
- Yes, if you would like to come with.
- You know what?
That sounds like a plan.
- Now just to make it clear, on Friday, when we hang out
as friends, I will not be paying you.
- I'm very excited.
- Ahmed was the best friend I could've paid for.
We even did a best friend photo shoot to end the day.
He was truly someone I'll never forget.
- If we had met at a house party or something like that,
there's no doubt we would've ended up talking
and talking about all this random--
(beeps)
that we both like.
(bright, bouncy music)
(whooshing)
(squeaking)