i learned my lesson to not trust a stranger on tiktok.

you might be thinking that i am completely stupid for getting scammed out of $150 via a random post on social media. but in my defense, two floor tickets to see ariana grande (referred to as ari in this post, because she is my close, personal friend) at the barclays center in june were being advertised by a very seemingly trusting young mother. 

when tickets for the eternal sunshine tour went on sale last fall, my roommate at the time was interested in going with me. i was so excited to potentially revisit my love for ari through a concert at one of my favorite venues. a pivotal moment in my life was seeing her when i turned 18, at barclays center in june 2019, for the sweetener world tour. except that pivotal moment was overshadowed by the my growing distain towards my plus-one: my high school ex-boyfriend. 

the idea of replacing that memory with a life-changing experience with a friend who loves ari as much as me was exciting. however, my roommate and i were in a tiff during the fall, and we have avoidant attachment styles, so we did not work it out in time to buy the tickets for the tour.

we eventually worked through our mental blockages and moved out of the apartment we shared for almost four years. as we packed our home, i put on my spotify playlist and “be alright” by ari came on. all of those tears really did come and go as we closed our account with the leasing company, then went to dave and busters to get wasted and watch our boyfriends play arcade games meant for children half our age. to close out the night, we went to my friend’s boyfriend’s house, did bong rips, and slowly watched the fire they built fizzle out as we all telepathically said “thank you and i love you.”

maybe if i didn’t just graduate from my college town apartment, i would have not gotten scammed $150 on tiktok. maybe i would have not fantasized what it would be like to enjoy an ari concert with my best friend, honoring the huge transition we just made in our lives. maybe i just wanted one last excuse to be close to her, and maybe i could’ve been scammed out of so much more, because i really wanted to see how she would react to me pulling something off like this. 

i think i also created a false sense of urgency for myself when i saw these tickets advertised from a like-less post on tiktok. i thought “well obviously this is meant for me; there are no views or comments. i better snatch these tickets up!” alternately, there is the public discourse in the back of my mind, all from internet know-it-alls who are so sure that this is ari’s last tour. 

did all the ari stans know that she was going to announce petal today? genuine question. because that announcement reaffirmed that only ari says when she stops. and true fans know she is an unreliable narrator and to not even trust what she says because she could change her mind next week. 

i am not going to detail every step in which i got scammed, by the way. that would just be embarrassing. just know i have a dispute open with my credit card company.