No Purchase Necessary #Life

The gym where my wife works is running a contest. Obviously, employees and family members aren't eligible, but when I went to pick her up tonight and was waiting for her to pack up her stuff, I took a look at the pad of entry forms.

The fine print at the bottom starts off like this: "No purchase necessary. Must be 18 years or older and a member of [gym name] in good standing to enter to win." (Gym name omitted to protect the guilty.)

That's right. No purchase necessary to enter, except for the minor matter of the purchase that's necessary to qualify to enter in the first place.

Jennie isn't actually allowed to talk to customers about how much a membership costs — only the membership counselors can do that. (You'd think it was a union shop, for crying out loud.) So she wasn't 100% sure how much a membership costs, but she did mention that not only do you have to pay a hefty enrollment fee, but you also have to pay a hefty "processing fee". I checked with their Web site to confirm the exact details, and it's true — $119 enrollment fee, plus $79 processing fee, plus $36.99 per month for the ongoing dues. Ouch.

So there actually is a purchase necessary, to the tune of a minimum of $234.99. But you know, that's such a small thing.