There are plenty of petty Venmo request stories circulating the internet—like this one about a woman whose roommate asked for $2.50 for ingredients to make cookies. But in a recent video, another TikTok user showed just how over-the-top some supposed “friends” can be.
In a nearly two-minute video with over 623,000 views, Nina Blu (@ninablumusic) explained how a former friend—who she referred to as “Maddie”—would “gaslight” their friend group into thinking that she was going to buy guacamole for the table when they went out to eat, only to renege on the offer after the fact.
@ninablumusic Replying to @nina blu *whispers* it was actually queso but it’s been so long I actually forgot #storytime #friendstorytime #toxicfriendship #commentreply #pickmes #guacamole #queso #venmo #venmochallenge ♬ original sound – nina blu
“Maddie was like the biggest pick me I’ve ever met in my entire life before we even knew that phrase existed,” Blu said.
Blu said that she and her friends eventually caught on to Maddie’s gambit and stopped agreeing to order guacamole for the table. The content creator also noted that she and Maddie are no longer friends due to how she treated the rest of their group.
“So the girls would all go out to dinner, like, pretty regularly and we’d get Mexican food all the time because, hello, we live in Texas,” Blu explained. “Maddie would start by saying, ‘Who wants guacamole? I will pay for it.’ She did this to us so often I don’t know why we didn’t catch on sooner. … Then, later in the night … she would then hit us with the Venmo request. I swear to God I got a Venmo request from her one time for like .75 cents.”
Blu went on to say that even though they attempted to curtail Maddie’s obsession with ordering guacamole for the table and getting others to pay for it, she managed to find another way to send them Venmo requests.
“This is what really drove me nuts. If you took a bite … this woman would Venmo request you for 50% of the guacamole. Can you imagine asking someone if they want to try a bite and then Venmo requesting them?” Blu asked.
Of course, over-the-top Venmo requests are a theme frequently shared on TikTok. Earlier this year, a user claimed that a friend sent her a Venmo request for a $3 bottle of water after the user paid for the friend’s meal and drinks. And last year, another user sparked debate after alleging that a boyfriend made her Venmo him $7 for cold medicine.
One viewer who saw Blu’s post speculated that Maddie was actively engaging in manipulative behavior.
“These are power trips,” they wrote. “People like this need to control others.”
Someone else shared how they would handle a “petty” Venmo request. “If I got a Venmo request for $3, I’d just send them $10 ‘bcuz it seems like you need it.’”
One TikToker even went so far as to say that generosity is a friendship prerequisite for them.
“I refuse to be friends with people who aren’t generous,” they commented. “I’m generous. It reflects on how you are in the rest of your life. Nope.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Blu via Instagram direct message.