I belonged to a gym in NH and when I found out I had to leave I went to the front desk to cancel my membership. They told me I had to fax my notice of cancellation to such and such number, which I did. Then I flew home to MN, to go to the UofM psychology welcome weekend, and then I wound up staying on for Monica’s surgery instead of flying back to NH and driving home. This is noteworthy because by the time I did fly back to NH the gym had sent me a letter to my address there saying they needed proof of Monica’s medical condition. I thought this was because they were gonna waive the extra month I had to pay (the one after I gave notice) because they were going to be nice about it. Since by this point it was too late, and since I didn’t feel compelled to follow their stupid orders about documenting my family tragedy, I ignored the letter. That was in mid-March.

So today I see from my CC bill that they’ve been charging me for gym membership all the while. I called them and said what the fuck. They said that I could only cancel my contract if I moved, or there was a medical condition, and such cancellation would take place 30 days from when they were notified and provided with all requisite documentation. Either that, or I could pay a $100 termination fee. Naturally this enraged me, since nobody ever said shit about this to me, either when I signed up, or when I told them in person that I wanted to cancel. I have no doubt it’s in the small print of the contract I signed when I signed up, but I didn’t read the small print – I asked what happened if I had to cancel, the chick told me to give 30 days written notice, and that was good enough for me.

So I called Citibank and disputed the charges, and then cancelled that card, since the gym would keep charging it otherwise. I will tomorrow fax the gym the documentation they require, and a note explaining the situation. But since they were such dicks about it already I’m sure they’ll go after me through a collection agency. My question is: what can they do to me if I just don’t pay? They’ll make a nasty note on my credit report, I know. But other than that? I don’t really need credit for anything for the next bunch of years, and since my credit has been stellar for my whole life I’m not that worried about it. But maybe you guys know something I don’t. Thoughts?

Resisting peer pressure isn’t pleasant. The banker who insisted on a 20% down payment for all mortgages got less business during the bubble and was seen by his colleagues as a burden on the bank and an obstacle to helping customers. The regulator who insisted on a 20% down payment for all mortgages was seen as denying the poor the good investments that were available to the rest of the country, and as an obstacle to home ownership [...]

I can imagine the caterwauling so vividly that it might as well have happened right in front of me: outraged liberals calling down the wrath of God on the evil, corrupt institutions that are keeping the poor from owning houses and getting their slices of the American Dream.

Now, my hands are clean on this crisis. I wasn’t borrowing in recent years, for mortgages or anything else. But I was absolutely just as much a fucktard during the great mass hysteria of the late 90s. Fortunately I came out ahead on that one, but if you eliminate the one big win I had, which was based on pure dumn luck and nothing more, then I just broke even.

I know a lot of fucktards. Most are not bad people, nor stupid. Maybe the guys running the universe are just like me and my friends, only richer.