"Husbands" For Hire To Help Around the House
Perhaps you have see the posted "Marido de Alquiler" (Husband for Hire) on many street posts and on bus stops.

Well, there is not indecency to that proposal, it is simply advertising for a group of men who are there to, mow the lawn, fix a leaky roof or a plugged drain. Although, according to the founder, they do get a lot of calls for sexual services, as the service is being misunderstood.

The idea came from a need to earn a daily wage by offering services in his neighbourhood. Sergio Sánchez, one of 23 "maridos" for hire, says two years he received a call from a upper scale home in Zapote, and he was asked to do was to change a lightbulb.

"Today still I cannot understand why they called me", said Sanchéz as he recalls his first call.

Aparicio Cordero Rodríguez is the founder of the company that has been in operation for six years and many stories to tell of being a "marido".

"One time, a woman called me to have her dog buried before 3pm when her children would be home from school. We also rescued an untold number of cats who died on the hot tin roofs. One time I had to bury a horse", recalls Cordero.

Cordero tells of one of hs strangest requests, transporting a cadaver from the Hospital Calderón Guardia to Guanacaste.

Currently the "marido" for hire offer more than 200 types of work, with the largest requests coming for carpentry, electrical, drains and paint.

However, Cordero, says that there have been some misinterpretation of the business and has received some calls for services beyond repairing a leaking sink or mowing the lawn.

"If you only knew how many women call us for sexual services... which are a lot, including tourists and men. If I had a department for that type of service, I would now be retired", said Cordero.

Cordero added that his "maridos" for hire adhere to a strict code of ethical conduct. The "husbands for hire" is simply a service to fill the jobs that husbands won't or can't do, according to Cordero.

In some cases, there have been discussions between husband and wife when the "maridos" were contracted by the wife to do the job the husband has refused, and including victims of physical aggression in those cases.

"Some husbands have gotten pretty riled when finding a strange man in their house under a refridgerator", said Cordero, adding than in some cases they have had to call police and file a complaint.

Among the group of "maridos", Cordero says he has accountants and other professionals who have decided a change in the their line of work. And in some cases he has had doctors and lawyers don the yellow overalls.