TruthInTelevision: This troper works at a pharmacy, and once had a teenage girl come in and ask for a pregnancy test using IHaveThisFriend as an excuse. As the head pharmacist predicted, once the girl got the test, she made her way to the restrooms, presumably to use it without paying.

Did she at least slip? She gives teenagers a ba--er, worse, name. I hope she slipped.

No, she didn't slip, but really, she didn't have to even before she made it blatantly obvious by her actions.

Spoofed by this troper. "I have this friend... who has nothing to do with the question." *proceeds to ask question*

I have this friend. He's a real nice guy.

This Troper's friend is also a really nice guy.

I too have a friend who is like this.

This troper, in a D&D thing discussing evil characters: "I have a friend who plays absolute psycho characters. *Changes mind about approach* I do too, but I'm sorta worse."

This troper accidentally subverted it. #QUOTE# Me: See, I have this friend...who accidentally got mixed up in some illegal stuff. How should I get her out of it? #QUOTE# Mom: ...Honey, do you have something you want to tell me? #QUOTE# Me: Huh? What are you-wait NO! It's really a friend!!! NOT ME!!!!

During This Troper's New World of Darkness game, he managed to have one of the characters seduced by a vampire. That character then tried to bluff another person (a contact of his) using this tactic. It failed miserably.

This troper uses a variation; since most people he talks to are aware of his passion for writing, it doesn't seem odd when he asks their opinion of hypothetical situations involving his fictional characters. Kind of a subversion, since he usually does end up using the opinions for the story, but he DID manage to use this tactic to find out if the girl he likes had a boyfriend. did.

Mind telling us how you used the tactic properly? I can't figure out how to phrase it to get an answer related to the real world...

I'm assuming it was with something along the lines of "So what would you do if you had a boyfriend who did X?"

This troper has a friend who tends to get into trouble. If she says, "Okay, I have this friend.." most people will give her a look. Now if this troper were to ask her parents, they immediately say, "What'd she get herself into now?" This troper got the same effect when the same friend became "active" with her boyfriend and asked some trusted friends when is the right age for that. So many weird looks and concerned friends. Except, as always, this troper's parents. They always know.

Subverted by an actual friend of this troper. He tests the water with other guys for me to find out if they're gay. (Sort of a TrialBalloonQuestion) He starts off by saying he's asking for a friend, knowing they'll think it's him. Only once he finds out the guy is gay will he reveal it's actually me. (This has the added benefit for me of never having to risk a punch in the face.)

This troper tried it once. It sounded so ridiculous that he dropped it immediately. "You know what? Forget that. I'm talking about myself here."

So I have this friend. She's shorter than me.

This trouper mentioned a friend who attempted suicide in a paper once. It became very awkward when the prof thought that she was using this trope.

So I have this friend. I think he is a pretty cool guy. eh is my friend and doesn't afraid of anything.

Variation: This troper was once approached for help and advice by a girl in his high school who had become impregnated by her boyfriend, who lived in another state. She wasn't the one who used the trope, though: since I didn't know much of how to offer help and advice, I called my psychologist to ask him what the girl should do in these sort of situations. I still don't know if he thinks I was the boyfriend in question or not.

I have never used the "I have a friend" variation, but I ''have'' asked hypothetical questions that were taken as non-hypothetical. Typically, though, if I want to ask something relevant to myself, I just ask directly, which makes it a little frustrating when people assume the non-hypothetical.

I went to Spencers today and bought an *ahem* personal enjoyment device and I was asked if I was finding everything okay by an employee wandering through the store. I used a "It's for a friend" variant, and was informed that Spencers isn't employed by judgmental people. Played straight, but I really was considering buying it for a friend as a gag gift based on an inside joke before I realized I don't even remember when her birthday is and didn't want to risk raising suspicion by asking her.

I avert this. If I have a problem, I say it outright. If a friend of mine ''does'' have a problem, I say 'Friend X has the problem Y', aiming to avoid unintentionally invoking this trope.

Well, I have this friend who's not sure what clicking the link would mean for my... his relationship with TVTropes...