Now this is a story all about how a girl grew up in South Georgia with a single mother who worked three jobs.
Yes, that started out like the theme song to “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” but it’s true. While I didn’t become a Backsteet Boys fan until a month before I graduated high school, I was a New Kids on the Block fan as a kid.
I only got to see the band once, in the nosebleeds, when I was fourth grade. It wasn’t until I was in my 30s that I got to meet them and see them basically front row.
Even though I saw the Backstreet Boys at Grad Nite the night I became a fan, it wasn’t until June 2001 when I saw them again on the Black & Blue tour. I was unable to see the Into the Millennium tour. We didn’t have the money. I was in college and money was very tight.
That’s why today, with a very good job, a very good side hustle, and other opportunities, I see the boys every change I get. I’ve been to Vegas four times to see the boys. I went on the European cruise.
Trust me, I wasn’t always like this. My friends got together to raise money for my very first VIP on the NKOTBSB tour. I had to Rent-a-Center style payments to best friends who bought concert tickets or VIP for me when I didn’t have all the money at once. I used to be a journalist. Unless you work for a huge newspaper/magazine, there’s no money in it.
But I bettered myself. I got out of my small town. I got a really good job with hella good insurance. I don’t sit and charge everything on credit cards to go into debt. And I’ll be frankly honest, the only time I did go into debt almost is when my mother almost died and I was out of work. It was not to go on a Backstreet Boys cruise. I sit by now and take care of her.
Other fans should not sit by and judge fans who do travel to see the boys often, whether it’s every weekend or two or three stops per tour. I work extremely hard to go to the things and do the things I do. When I know that I can’t afford something, I don’t do it. That’s how other people do.
Check out Cindy’s post above that she wrote back in 2020 before we knew the pandemic was going to hit. She gives steps and suggestions on how to make going to events work for you.
We know everybody can’t do that. We know it’s hard, especially after a pandemic. But don’t sit online and blast people for enjoying themselves if they can afford it after the horrible two years we just had.
It’s not in style.
