… is just showing up. I think someone in Annie Hall said that and I, 
certainly, don’t dispute it, it makes sense in a number of ways.
Funny thing about showing up – things happen. Funny thing about not showing up – bad stuff happens.
The single most important thing I can, and do, tell anyone facing foreclosure, or small claims court, or student loan action, or … anything requiring action in a court of law is the simplest thing – Show Up.
See, with court actions what many, many people don’t get is this – you, and at some point hopefully your attorney – are the only people in the process there to protect your rights. That you have many rights in any action is indisputable, it’s just that the opposing party has no interest, no reason to protect them for you.
If you don’t show up the process becomes this – ‘how quickly can we clear the case?’ Say it’s a foreclosure, the plaintiff’s law firm wants it off their growing pile of cases as soon as possible for profit’s sake; the judge and clerk want the docket sheet cleared as they are graded on efficiency; the bank wants someone, anyone, paying something, as soon as possible. And it goes on.
So, then, here’s what happens when you don’t show up and you leave your matter entirely in the hands of the bank’s attorney and the court – imagine the court is the teller and the plaintiff is Ricky Gervais:
If this is an exaggeration it’s a slight one. The only way to stop this is to show up. It’s that simple.
Neat thing about showing up, by the way, it works at almost any point in the process. It’s almost never too late. Though, of course, the sooner you do, the more options left open.