MINNEAPOLIS â Baxter Lenin, guitarist for Ketamine Chainsaw, recently received a âpre-denial offerâ in the mail from Capital One, confirmed sources.
âMy first thought after getting that offer letter in the mail was, âHow the fuck do I even have mail?â I live in a van with our drummer and a squirrel,â Lenin said during a break from chalking âThis Machine Kills Fascistsâ on the side of a Planned Parenthood. âIâm not even quite sure how my credit can be that bad if I donât have a Social Security number or a legal name in 11 states. I mean, fuck credit scores. I donât even have a savings account, unless you count the loose change I store in the center consoleâs cup holder.â
A representative from Capital One provided some much needed insight on the pre-denial offer.
âLetâs just say someone like Mr. Lenin demonstrated a lifestyle so un-monetizable that it alerted our credit monitoring department,â said Dee Webster, media relations manager. âFor example, taking an absoluteâpardon meâdogshit bass guitar from the free box at a garage sale in northeast Minneapolis, and stringing it with four regular E strings obtained via swindle so as toâand I quoteââfuck up the tone some moreâ and âtune this bitch in one-sixth of the time.â This is someone who co-signed for a car loan using the Social Security number from that LifeLock commercial. This person doesnât have a passport but is permanently banned from Canadian Tire. Canadian Tire! If someone like that willingly or accidentally opened a line of credit with us, it could crash the entire financial system. We took proactive measures.â
Professor Fin Gabriel, chair of the Predatory Economics Department at the University of Minnesota, wasnât surprised about Capital Oneâs unusual credit practice.
âMr. Leninâs case demonstrates evolving credit models that meet consumers where theyâre at, which in this case is a van,â Gabriel said. âTraditional credit cards turned into Buy Now, Pay LaterâBNPLâwhich became Buy Now, Pay Way Later, or BNPWL. Mr. Lenin falls into the newest model, BNFUâBuy Never, Fuck Youâwhich offers pre-denials with special introductory interest rates. By this time, he should be receiving a post-denial offer just to confirm he doesn’t deserve a life of personal credit card debt.â
As of press time, Lenin reportedly used the offer letter to light a cigarette clenched in his butt cheeks at a Ketamine Chainsaw show, and now owes Capital One $179 plus 0% interest for the first six months.
