Reading: The People Walker

(A2) B1, B2

You've probably heard of people who you can pay to walk your dog for you.  You're going to read about Chuck McCarthy, who has started his own business as a "people walker". And he has already been surprisingly successful. Activity time: 20 to 30 minutes

Task: Answer the questions

1  What does his job consist of?
2  Why did he decide to do it?
3  How does he advertise? 
4  What success has he had?
5  What do people want to talk about?
6  Does he work alone?
7  Does he have any plans to develop the business?
8  Why does he think people are interested?

What do you think of the idea of paying somebody to walk with you?

The reading text is here  
The answers are below












Answers:
1  He walks people for $7 a mile
2  He's an actor needing to make extra money, but at first it was just a joke
3  On his T-shirt, on his Facebook page and with flyers that he puts on lampposts
4  He's had hundreds of emails and there's been a lot of interest
5  Mostly "small talk" subjects like traffic problems in LA
6  No - he's recruited five other people in LA
7  Yes - he wants to get money from crowdfunding to develop an app like Uber.
8  It's difficult to cooordinate leisure time with friends; people want human interaction and 
    not just virtual contact; people need exercise