We have all witnessed the kind of people who expect to do whatever they want, whenever they want without facing consequences. Either they never expect to get caught or they think there’s nothing wrong with their actions. However, karma is always watching.
1. Against The Rules
A couple of years ago, I was engaged in a lively game of volleyball with some buddies. In our group, there was a guy, more of an acquaintance really, who had a reputation for having an awful temper. Throughout the game, he was just sour to everyone, shouting and hollering, non-stop.
He was insistent on pointing out every rule infraction and blaming everyone but himself. We all grew tired of his antics so, in a collective act of playful retaliation, we began to intentionally play foolishly just to get him going. His anger escalated to a point where he dropped to his knees and started yelling.
Then, a moment of poetic justice was served in more ways than one. Right in the middle of his tantrum, an unsuspecting pigeon swooped by and, quite literally, pooped on his face. We as a group found it hilariously fitting, and it remained a point of laughter for us for weeks.
2. A Step Down
I used to work at a grocery store. My task was to stack instant noodles onto a sizable promotional stand. I only had a tinny, two-step stool to climb, the type that has a bar running along the upper step.
Getting off from the top shelf and placing your foot on the proper step was kind of hard—I mean, there was a 60% chance that I could miss and land on the bar, causing the whole thing to come crashing down.
Once, I roped in a coworker to lend me a hand, asking him to let me treat his shoulder as a balance beam to climb down. My manager, hearing this, made fun of me, calling me a "princess" because I needed some help. But there's a bit of karma involved here.
Soon, he met his fate in quite an ugly manner. He was stacking up two-liter soda bottles on a discount display when he decided to climb down. He too tried his luck with the 40% success rate jump on the wobbly stool. Unfortunately, he messed up. He stepped on the top bar and the stool gave way.
The poor guy ended up with a broken arm and half the display strewn all over the place. I didn't stick around to see the aftermath. I punched out and left before someone asked me to clean up the soda mess.
3. Mind Your Business
My roommate tends to pry and pass judgment on people's private lives. At the start of our freshman semester, we dined with our fellow resident, a lady noticeably older than us, to get better acquainted. Somewhere during the conversation, the topic of adolescent mothers came up and she confessed she became pregnant at sixteen.
Unfortunately, my roommate had the worst reaction. She said something like, "I would go for an abortion immediately. I guess you didn't want to hold on to it either?" That remark was ill-timed. Turns out, our co-resident had suffered a miscarriage. The dinner turned awkward after that, but it was rather satisfying to see my roommate put in her place.
I hope it served as a lesson for her.
4. What Goes Around, Comes Around
A couple of months back, I took a trip to the beautiful city of San Francisco. On one particular night, after some quality time involving a potluck and a few drinks, a friend drove me to a nearby metro station. She instructed me on how to use the train service to get back to the hotel.
Upon paying my fare, I dove into the underground, only to unfortunately discover that the last train had just departed—I’d missed it by a minute. Luckily for me, my friend was more than helpful. She told me about the bus that could take me back. However, another person who had also missed the same train was not as fortunate as me.
He seemed a bit tipsy, burdened by huge bags of groceries, and was trying to get home. He didn't even have a way to call an Uber. Upon seeing him struggle, I felt a pang of sympathy and proposed to call an Uber for him. I suggested he repay me whatever amount he could.
He had only $3 on him, but that was okay with me, I wasn’t going to deny his plea. We spent some time in conversation as we waited for his Uber to show up. Once his ride came, he happily hopped on and started his ride home, and I proceeded to catch my bus. But there was a twist.
As I got on the bus, I realized it was operated by a different company, and my paid metro ticket was non-transferable. This meant I had to pay again. And that's when I discovered I was out of cash—I’d spent my last dollar on the now-useless metro ticket.
Struck with worry, I put my hand in my back pocket hoping for some small change, even though I knew I didn’t have enough to cover the fare. In what seemed like a lifesaver moment, I felt the $3 that man had given me. It was an incredible feeling. That night, I believe, we ended up saving each other in our unique ways.
5. The Cost of Karma
A while ago, when I was employed at a hardware store, I had a confrontation with a man who went on an angry rant because our system wouldn't process a refund for one out of his sixteen items. He didn't have a rational reaction, instead he began yelling and making threats towards me, the other cashier, the store manager, and about three bystanders.
Despite his refusal to calm down, we repeatedly told him he was not welcome at the store and needed to leave. His next move was unexpected, to say the least. Instead of leaving, he planted himself at the entrance, furiously yelling at every approaching customer.
His objective seemed to be to discourage people from shopping there, claiming we were scamming him. So he continued his pointless display until, after about ten minutes, the authorities arrived. The sight of the officers surprisingly silenced him and his tough demeanor quickly melted away into a quietly muttering pool of lame excuses.
What's really astounding here is the fact that WE TOLD HIM we were getting the authorities, and despite the imminent arrival of the officers, he stuck around. Before the situation had time to get sorted out, he was banned from the shop and lost out on about two hundred dollars.
6. Get Your Facts Straight
During my time as a contract HR Director at a prominent state university, the head of student housing was a rather challenging co-worker. She was loud, self-centered, and often angry, often railroading over her colleagues and leaving chaos in her wake. Her lack of professionalism frequently showed in her outright yelling and irrational demands.
If she didn't exactly hit it off with someone, they were fired promptly. Essentially, she treated everyone under her like personal employees. Considering the often long-winded process of firing managerial staff within state institutions, she had been able to get away with such behavior.
This behavior had persisted for two decades, unbeknownst to me when I was assigned to dig down into all the complaints against her and her management style. As I conducted my investigations, I discovered a particularly concerning pattern.
If an individual identified as gay, they would likely face dismissal under her watch. This pattern seemed woven into her tenure over 20 long years. Naturally, I had to present her with my findings at the conclusion of my investigation. Despite her shrewd attempts to dodge the truth, all the evidence was well documented and, quite frankly, undeniable.
She decided to tackle this by escalating the matter to the Dean, calling for a meeting, and spinning a narrative about how I, a supposedly "typical empowered straight white man," was prejudiced against her hiring preferences and was ill-treating her valued team members.
She then aired her skepticism about my credentials, suggesting that she'd encountered "my type" of authoritative heteronormative men before. But I let her vent until she exhausted herself. I knew how to handle the situation.
I calmly approached the Dean, and shared with him photographs of my wedding with my husband. As the Dean broke into a knowing smile, he asked if he could share the pictures. So, I went over and showed them to her. She was taken aback, to put it mildly. In an instant, her outbursts stopped.
Faced with her new reality, the Dean presented her with an ultimatum—either retire at once or she'd be dismissed immediately. She opted for retirement.
7. Clairvoyant
One night, I found myself heading home along the highway amid a dreadful snowstorm. With icy and risky conditions underfoot, I kept my speed to a safe 30 miles per hour. Sharing the ride with me was my newborn daughter and it was our first encounter with snow while on the road.
My anxiety was through the roof, and things were about to take a turn for the worse. Unsafely overtaking all of us in the slow lane was an inconsiderate truck, who seemed oblivious to the danger at hand. Despite the harsh weather conditions, he was racing past at 65 miles per hour.
Exasperated by his recklessness, I observed him overtaking me while silently shaking my head at the potential results. No sooner had I thought, "He is heading straight for a crash," then he lost his grip on the road, his truck skidded and he slid right into a ditch.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one to delight in others' misfortune. He was, luckily, unharmed; I watched him hop out of his wrecked truck and respond with a visibly frustrated display. His truck, however, paid the ultimate price. It's a costly lesson for driving recklessly, especially during bad weather conditions.
8. A Small Reward
While working at the grocery store, a flustered shopper approached me. He mentioned that he'd inadvertently left his cash at the ATM and was wondering if anyone had turned it in. I was just about to let him know that no one had when another customer came up from behind him.
He explained that he'd been in line behind the first customer at the ATM, saw what had happened, and retrieved the forgotten money. The amount was £200—quite substantial. The relieved customer wanted to share some of the money with the good samaritan, but he refused to accept any of it.
This second customer proceeded to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket, scratched it off, and discovered he'd won £5. It might not have been a tremendous windfall, but it was a small dose of good karma for his kind deed.
9. Watching And Waiting
A good while back, I decided to spend a glorious summer day at an amusement park with a buddy. When we got near to the exit ramp that leads to the park, we found ourselves stuck in a growing traffic jam. It turned out lots of others had had the same brilliant idea of visiting the park that day.
Some impatient drivers couldn't stand the wait and slipped onto the shoulder to bypass the long line of cars. Seeing others do it emboldened more and more folks to follow suit, until the queue on the shoulder stretched just a few lengths ahead of us.
As we crawled forward, we noticed something quite odd. The cars on the shoulder weren't budging. I first thought they simply couldn't rejoin the traffic flow, but once we reached our exit, we saw that wasn't the case. Lo and behold, a lone squad car was parked at the end of the line.
What's more, a handful of officers were pacing down the line of shoulder waiters, issuing tickets. While I can't recall what we did in the park that day, thinking back to that scene of instant karma never fails to make me chuckle.
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10. A False Start
There was a man idling at a vibrant intersection in the heart of my city. It was summer and there were a ton of people around. The man, feeling rather suave, was in his flashy BMW, seeming quite pleased with himself.
To everyone's delight, he began playing his music at an ear-splitting volume, gunning his engine for all to hear as he waited for the traffic light to change.
The light flipped to green, and he attempted to make a showy tire-squealing exit. However, things didn't quite go his way. There was a peculiar crunching noise, followed by a loud explosion. Totally embarrassed, he had to move his car to the roadside, right in front of the very audience he was trying to charm.
Everyone pointed at him and laughed.
11. A Sweet Treat
During my first year in high school, I remember a particular moment on my way to class. A guy, who was a couple of years older than me, was strolling down the hallway carrying a box of doughnuts. As the gap between us reduced, he opened the doughnut box in what appeared to be an offer for me to take one.
Delighted, I reached out to accept his supposed generosity, but to my surprise, he abruptly pulled the box away to tease me. However, his swift action unfortunately backfired. He yanked the box way too hard, causing the whole lot of doughnuts to fly directly into a nearby trash can.
12. Gotta Love A Happy Ending
Around a dozen years ago, I found myself at Barnes and Noble, wracking my brain to remember the title of a book I wanted. All I could recall was its cover, nothing else—I hadn't even read it yet. I had a store worker looking high and low with me for around 20 minutes, but we eventually resigned ourselves to defeat.
As I was heading for the exit, someone collided with a table, leading to a massive pile of books tumbling to the floor. Given the length of time the employee had spent assisting me earlier, I felt a sense of duty to help out, so I decided to pick up and restack the books that had fallen.
As I bent down to gather the books, I noticed the exact book we'd been searching so hard for in the pile.
13. Art Imitates Life
When I was in eighth grade, there was this one time I was perched on a bench, observing the schoolyard. I noticed a girl trip and fall, and I began to laugh and point her out. The karma was instant. As I leaned back to steady myself on the fence behind me, it turned out that the part where I was leaning had broken off.
Without any support, I ended up falling right into the muddy ground.
14. Squawking For Hot Dogs
One day, while I was purchasing my drinks at a Circle K in Florida during a visit, a group of elderly tourists rudely cut the line. They didn't stop there. They loudly complained about everything in sight—the prices being too high, the beaches being too crowded, the extreme heat.
They even took their rudeness up a notch by being rude to the cashier, taking up a good chunk of time arguing over the cost of their hot dogs. Rest assured, though, they got what they deserved.
After they left, we exited the store just in time to see karma in action. A seagull swooped down and forcefully took the man's hot dog right from his grasp. His wife let out a scream, visibly caught off guard, and involuntarily dropped her hot dog on the ground.
15. All T, No Lift
I was having a great time skiing on a mountain that has a T-bar tow lift. For those unfamiliar with it, it's simply a sizable inverted "T" which is around six feet high, and a cable pulls it. You grip it and it smoothly takes you up the hill.
The T shape is designed in a way that allows two people to hold on to either end of the horizontal part of the "T". Less-experienced folks often end up slipping off this. One young kid, around the age of 12 to 14 and on a snowboard, decided to take on the T-bar challenge.
He tripped just about 30 seconds in, though rather than letting go, he kept holding on while being pulled along. This sort of thing isn't uncommon, but most people typically let go after a couple of seconds. Not this guy, though! He ended up being dragged along on his stomach upwards of a thousand feet.
Both I and another couple were skiing behind him. We were amazed that he hadn't let go of the T-bar. The lift came to a pause a little bit further up due to another skier, but the worn-out lad didn't get up to fix his predicament. The couple following us was laughing so hard that when the T-bar jolted back into motion, they slipped off it.
The final score at the end? The tenacious kid reached the peak while they didn't.
16. A Huge Delay
During my commute, I navigate a broad, four-lane road without any traffic signals. A pedestrian zone exists, yet drivers rarely brake unless I tentatively step onto the roadway and bank on the first car, and consequently, the rest to cease. I always double-check and wait for clear signs of recognition from motorists before I cross each lane.
There came a day when cars in the lanes one, two, and four paused to allow me to pass. Caught in a quandary mid-road, I wondered if the Mercedes cruising in the third lane would yield. NOPE. The driver merely coasted past me.
As he continued his journey, I non-verbally expressed my disappointment, gesturing with a shrug and muttering, "Really?" To top it all off, his response was to show me an rude hand gesture as he drove past. Fortunately, justice was right behind him.
Oblivious to the fact that a patrol car trailed him, his disrespectful gesture led to an immediate rendezvous with some officers. A traffic ticket ensued, serving up a dose of instant karma.
17. Karma Loves Physical Comedy
At a festival I was attending, there was this guy who was acting quite obnoxious. He was yelling, insulting people, throwing items at others—absolute wild behavior. He was a tiny bit higher up from the main crossroads, with only around thirty feet separating him from the general crowd.
I was simply standing there waiting for my buddy. The guy's living arrangements at the festival could only be described as haphazard. He had this makeshift tarp shelter, supported by a nylon rope thrown over a pickup truck, and interestingly enough, held in place by shutting a car door on it.
Without warning, the man hurls his drink at the crowd, scrambles atop the car, and proceeds to tightrope walk on the rope between the truck and car. I must admit, I was quite amazed that he even managed two steps before the rope slid.
The man quickly spread out his legs, consequently dropping three feet directly onto the tensioned rope. I have not witnessed anyone damage his groin as brutally as he did in my entire life. He immediately curled up into a fetal position, then slowly rotated around the rope until he was hanging upside down.
After that, the rope shifted along the truck's roof and dropped between the driver's compartment and the cargo area. The whole commotion caused his ramshackle tarp to partially collapse, and he landed headfirst in the mud.
18. Keep An Eye Out
A few years back, I worked at a mobile phone shop. We were swamped with customers, and amongst them was a woman whose child was wreaking havoc. He was running around the store, knocking items over and generally being quite disruptive.
I politely asked her multiple times to rein her kid in because his antics could potentially lead him to hurt himself. After my third plea, she started to snap, "Don't you dare instruct me on how to parent my...".
However, she never completed her outburst. Interrupting her mid-sentence was the thud of her son crashing headfirst into a heavy hanging sign and falling to the ground, unconscious, like a sack of potatoes. He turned out to be fine, but his mom tried to shift blame onto us, threatening to sue.
I gently reminded her that our store's security cameras had captured and recorded not only my thrice-made requests for her to control her child but also her nasty retort to me. I never received another peep from her after that.
19. Look Where You’re Going
Roughly ten years ago, I was taking my wife to work. The weather was a bit rainy, and I was driving on the highway in my reasonably-tuned car. Unexpectedly, a young man appeared, revving his car alongside mine in an attempt to coax me into a race. I merely responded with a shake of the head and continued on my journey.
As I took my exit, the road fanned out into three lanes. The center lane directly led to a commercial hub, which happened to be my wife's workplace. Notably, many drivers tended to use this lane both to proceed straight and turn right, even though the latter was not permissible. They did so to bypass the notoriously long traffic signal.
Resuming my trip, I took the middle lane as usual. And there he was again—the young man from before, zipped up beside me on the right, his engine roaring even louder this time. His eyes fixed on me and not on the road ahead. That turned out to be a costly mistake.
With an abrupt crash, he slammed into the rear of the car waiting at the light. Unfazed by the incident, I dropped my wife at her office, and then revisited the site to provide a witness statement to the officers. And here's where the tale takes a shocking twist.
The young man didn't have a driver's license. Even now, a decade later, it's uncertain if he ever got one. There you have it, the account of my unforgettable encounter with an overly-enthusiastic would-be racer.
20. A Cycle Of Events
I saw a person stoop to retrieve a dropped wallet from someone in front of them. As he ran to return it to its owner on the other side of the road, ironically, his own wallet slipped out and landed on the crosswalk. Meanwhile, a cyclist in the bike lane noticed this, pedaled a bit further, scooped up the fallen wallet and swiftly pedaled away.
Just as my dad was about to intervene, a squad car parked nearby swiftly cut off the cyclist, forcing him to return the wallet. The cyclist, slightly surprised, bumped into the car and tried to maneuver around it, only to be tackled. I suspect a fine was possibly imposed on him, but since the traffic light changed, we had to move on.
21. Kindness Is Free
Once, in a permanently overfilled beach parking lot, I spotted a recently vacated space. A young family had just pulled out, the car passing us unnoticed on their way out from the jam-packed lot. The chaos was standard: people unloading trunks, scattering coolers, dragging out beach chairs and creating more mess.
Amidst this, I cautiously moved towards the empty space. Suddenly, a guy from the neighboring aisle noticed the open spot. He instantly hit the gas, rushing to the end of his row. Without any delay, he took a rapid right followed by a swift left into the spot on my right. I was a bit peeved, but it wasn't enough to cause a stir.
I simply waved at him, signaling my disapproval of his move, and continued to the corner of the aisle he just sped down. While waiting for another car to back out of a parking space about 30 yards up (I couldn't believe our luck), we saw the family that had left the original vacant spot.
As they drove by, the driver offered me their parking receipt with 4 hours remaining. He said, "I saw what happened. That guy was an idiot. Enjoy some free parking". We were taken aback, extremely thankful, but the best part was yet to come.
We parked our car, got out, walked past the parking space pirate. In a sweet twist of irony, we noticed he'd forgotten to put his car in park or set his parking brake. His Mustang's front end had rolled over the parking stop, damaging his front end.
22. Mistakes Were Made
Once upon a time, I bumped into a bloke at the bus stop. As we made small talk, he discovered that I was studying visual arts and started rabidly criticizing my choice, claiming it was good for nothing and I would end up penniless. Rather than engaging, I chose to brush it off and boarded the bus.
Sometime later, it was apparent that a talent scout was on board the bus, identified by a loud phone conversation about recent contracts. Then, the guy from the bus stop pulls out a CD player and began pestering the talent scout to give his Elton John impersonation a listen.
The talent scout gave in and seemed impressed, but it didn't last long. Turns out our chap had mixed up his CDs and had unwittingly played an actual Elton John album. It was a sight to see the guy sinking back into his seat, drowning in a pool of shame and embarrassment.
23. Taking The Joke A Little Too Far
Once in middle school, a new kid thought he'd become popular by making fun of a girl who slipped in the hallway between classes. Coincidentally, this was a girl I really liked. He thought he was a big shot, poking fun at her, saying that only clumsy people or little kids would stumble like that.
However, karma had a surprise for him. While trying to mimic her fall to get some laughs, he messed up his balance. He ended up crashing to the ground on his back and broke his arm in front of everyone. When I passed by, he was just lying there, with adults all around him, staring blankly at the ceiling.
He didn't return to school after that. I've heard that he moved away. Honestly, I can't blame him. I would have done the same.
24. Pay Attention To The Lessons Of The Past
One day when I wasn't working, I ended up cutting my fingertip while I was preparing my breakfast. I dropped everything and went straight to Urgent Care. Even though my injury wasn't severe enough for stitches, the doctor applied a few Steri-Strips and suggested that I refrain from using the injured fingertip, especially on a keyboard, for a couple of days.
Bright and early the next morning, I went to work and informed my boss about my medical situation, making it known that I would need to avoid typing for a while. Just as I left her office, I realized I had forgotten to tell her something, so I turned around to go back.
As I was heading towards her office, I overheard her making light of my accident. In a twist of fate, just as she finished mocking my situation, she accidentally slammed the heavy door of the safe on her own hand.
25. Shoe Swap
So, I visited the store with my girlfriend as she wanted to buy a pair of her favorite boots. She loved this design so much that she'd had them for over a decade. Regrettably, they had stopped producing that specific model and it really upset her. As her supportive partner, I consoled her.
At the same time, I happened to come across a pair of boots on sale that fit me perfectly, so I bought them. She was happy for me, given that I didn't have any boots, though, I felt like I was unknowingly twisting the knife. The plan was to buy her beloved boots and we ended up with her being upset and on the other hand, I snagged an unplanned good bargain.
A month later, I found myself in a similar situation. I was at a different store aiming to buy my go-to sneakers that I had been purchasing repeatedly. To my dismay, I discovered that they stopped manufacturing that sneaker line too. But, conversely, my girlfriend found something that piqued her interest and she happily walked out with new, stylish sneakers.
26. Emergency Repairs
In town, there's this one road where cars tirelessly park on both sides, turning it effectively into a one-way street. People have been warned time and again not to park there as it blocks access for emergency vehicles. But since no double yellow lines signal a no-parking zone, the parking officer's hands were tied.
Even the fire department got involved, using a chalk-laden stick the same width as their trucks, marking up the cars parked in the way. They left notices on each marked car, saying those vehicles would block emergency access. Sure enough, when a fire broke out, the fire trucks couldn't get through due to the parked cars.
After a quick effort to knock on doors, the firefighters did what they had to do. They just drove straight down the street. They scraped nearly every car and knocked off side mirrors in the process.
I believe that, in the UK, emergency vehicles aren't legally responsible for any damage to cars they hit while responding to an emergency, so they didn't face any blowbacks for the chaos. Honestly, I hope those car owners pay more attention to their repair bills than they did the parking notices.
27. An Act Of Hubris
My first car wasn't the fanciest one around, but I was proud of it. I had saved up enough to afford it when I was young. Once, while I was out and about running some errands in a well-off part of town, I stopped at a red light. To my side pulled up two guys of similar age, driving a rather swanky car.
They spent the time smirking among themselves, occasionally glancing over at me. No bother, I wasn't perturbed. After a while, the driver lowered his window and challenged, "Hey dude, fancy a race?" Invited by the dare, he revved up his engine. In response, I too revved mine, much to their surprise.
Their responses were electrified, "Woahhh," they chimed in unison. As the light turned green, we both throttled hard, but my speed was capped at the limit. The other dudes, however, propelled ahead, crossing the speed limit. Off they went, around the curve. Little did they know, I had a plan.
I knew this stretch well, including the speed traps common here. Sure enough, as I followed around the bend, I saw their car sidelined with a cruiser parked behind them, its lights flashing. As I drove past them, their faces didn't seem too thrilled at my wave and rather smug smile.
28. Burning Bridges
I'm employed as a recruiter at a staffing agency. I have a colleague who was engaged with an impressive candidate—a programmer. The guy was facing layoffs at his company, yet was reassured that his position was safe.
My co-worker reached out to him and they had a productive conversation, in which the programmer expressed interest in exploring other career options. Coincidently, we had just secured a new client who was offering a suitable position for him. We swiftly arranged an interview, and the programmer excelled and got the job.
It was an amazing achievement considering there was also a slight improvement in the salary package. The vacancy was a full-time employment, free of contractual obligations. When he started his new job, everything went splendidly for the entire initial week and he seemed absolutely delighted.
However, the following Monday, he was mysteriously absent. The new company inquired about his absence. My colleague promptly rang him up. Once he picked the call, my co-worker asked worriedly, "Hey, is everything okay? You didn't show up for work at XYZ company today, and there wasn't any communication from you".
The man responded nonchalantly, “Yeah, I never officially resigned from my former job. I was just using my vacation days to test the waters at the new place. The experience was just alright but I’ve decided to stick with my current job”.
Following this shocking revelation, my co-worker pleaded, “Man, is there anything I can do? This sudden decision puts us and our relationship with our new client in jeopardy, can we negotiate?"
However, the programmer was unapologetically dismissive, saying “To be honest, I couldn’t care less about the predicament you're in or your relationship with the new client. I'm sticking to my decision, please don't contact me again”. He ended the call swiftly after this. But, his smugness didn't last long, as he was met with an unforeseen circumstance soon enough.
He was laid off from his "secure" job the very next week.
29. First Class Dummy
We were getting on a flight that was heading across the Atlantic, returning from the United States to the United Kingdom. Nine seats were spread over the width of the airplane in groups of three. My siblings and I took the first three seats, while my parents occupied two seats in the next group of three.
The final four seats on our row, plus one more on the row behind, were occupied by another family. The father of this family was making his dissatisfaction known in a loud and obnoxious manner. He desired my father's seat for his son (who was seated in the row behind us).
It was blatantly obvious that when he had checked in, he had chosen prime seating and extra leg room over ensuring his family could all sit together. Now he was attempting to bully the stewardess into letting him have it all. My father intended on offering to switch seats, trying to interject into the conversation.
He had already made up his mind that he didn't want to spend eight long hours next to such an unpleasant man. The man clearly figured my dad was going to say something totally different—he told him to keep out of it before my dad could even speak up.
The stewardess asked for everyone to remain peaceful and said she would be back soon. Upon her return, she guided my parents into unoccupied first-class seats. She then returned and informed the irritated man, "Problem resolved, your son can switch seats now".
She had a massive smile on her face, leaving the man utterly bewildered. Even though he got what he initially asked for, he still had this sense of loss, unable to comprehend exactly what had gone down.
30. A Good Deed
One day in high school, I was on my way back from lunch when I noticed an elderly man struggling with his crutches. He was stuck by the side of the road, unable to navigate the high curb due to his leg injuries. To my astonishment, all my schoolmates just walked past him.
So, I did what came naturally to me—I went over and offered assistance. After helping him, a woman in a car flagged me down. She had seen the whole episode unfold. Turns out, she was the principal of a nearby school, and had witnessed my gesture while visiting my school for a meeting.
She actually took it upon herself to call my school and recount the entire incident to my principal. When I returned to school after lunch, I was immediately summoned by my principal. They expressed gratitude to me for portraying the school in a positive light.
As a token of appreciation, I was granted an extra lunch hour and I even received a certificate during the school award ceremony.
31. Sometimes It’s Okay To Follow The Crowd
We were cruising along an icy road, after the season's first major snowfall, in a car equipped with four-wheel drive. Our pace was slow due to the ice-slick road; that's about as fast as we dared under the circumstances. After all, the snow had initially melted into slush then solidly froze overnight, creating pretty treacherous driving conditions.
We've driven on icy roads our entire lives, so we knew what's safe and what's not. The traffic on this day was dreadful, with everyone resorting to slow speeds. Suddenly, we noticed a brand new, shiny, red Dodge pickup closely following us. The driver was aggressive, tailgating us and revving his engine.
It felt like he was saying, "I'm a tough guy in a tough truck and I don’t need to slow down for a small car struggling with the snow". When the road straightened, we gave him a clear opportunity to overtake us. He did, swiftly speeding past. But that was a HUGE MISTAKE.
After speeding past us for about 400 feet, the road ahead curved moderately to the left. He tried navigating around the bend, but the ice proved too much for his truck and it just plowed straight ahead crashing into a parked car and guardrail. All of this unfolded before the eyes of several onlookers.
As we slowly drove by him, navigating the same turn without a hitch, we caught sight of his quite damaged front end. The truck probably wasn't entirely wrecked, but I'd be really surprised if he could still drive it down to the garage.
32. Above His Own Rules
So, here I was, in a beginner's course for French, having just completed my first test. One of the given questions asked us to translate the French word "singe," meaning monkey, to English. What struck me as odd were that many of us had never learned that specific word yet in our lessons.
Wondering if I had overlooked something, I even re-checked all of our past resources, including a lesson specially dedicated to animal names. Yet, there was no mention of the word "singe". Interestingly enough, the ones who did manage to answer the question correctly had seen an Eddie Izzard comedy show where he talks about learning French.
Naturally, we brought this up to the teacher's attention, and they were kind enough to give us back a point if we had missed it. However, a particularly smug classmate who hailed from Quebec retorted with, "Just because it's not in the syllabus doesn't mean you don't have to know it".
He extended his argument and stated, "Recognizing words beyond the textbook is a part of 'global knowledge' and it's essentially vital for excelling at this class".
To be honest, I couldn't disagree with his point of view: to truly absorb and excel in a language, it's crucial to venture beyond lesson plans and learn new words. But, we were only in the first month of the course, and it would be unrealistic to presume we knew extensive vocabulary outside of the curriculum just yet.
Fast-forwarding to when we received our grades for a subsequent test, I couldn't help but observe the irony. This very same know-it-all classmate was throwing a fit because he lost a point for not knowing the translation of the word "dehors" (which means outside) and accusing the teacher of not having taught that term in class.
33. He Needed To Cool Off
I recall being at a large sports tournament one day after a game when it started to sprinkle. An impatient driver seemed to be in a rush, showing no regard for pedestrians hurrying to their vehicles. He nearly hit a child! He even had the audacity to shout at anyone in his path.
To make matters worse, he decided to dodge and dart between cars to escape the area faster than usual, completely ignoring a barrier petrol sawhorse blocking an exit he wasn't meant to use. The drizzle then turned into a torrential downpour.
By now, all onlookers had their eyes fixated on this unruly man. Without any hint of shame, he got out of his car to move the sawhorse and cut the vehicle queue, completely disregarding the stream of pedestrians. That's when we were all blessed by the most satisyfing sight.
As if karma was having its final say, he accidentally locked himself out of his vehicle, leaving the engine running as the rain intensified.
34. The Perils Of Winter
I was returning home after spending Easter with my family, and it was amidst a heavy snowfall. The roads were slick with a combination of ice and snow. Snowy conditions are my least favorite driving situation—they really rev up my anxiety.
My route took me to a left-side exit, a lane ordinarily used by speedsters or for overtaking, but I had no choice but to navigate through it. Others were zooming past me at what was likely the regular speed limit, and then I saw one specific car just barrelling past as if they were racing against time.
A little later down the road, I came across a fresh accident scene. And what do you know, it was that speed-loving driver, stranded on the side of the road with their car now upended on the roadway. My guess is that this speedster had been switching lanes or possibly grazed the vehicle in front of them, causing them to end up like this.
I always stress to people the importance of careful driving especially in challenging weather conditions. No reason justifies reckless speeding and disregard for other drivers. Unless it's a dire emergency—in which case, please dial for professional help!
35. A Small Price To Pay
I was sitting at a red light once and for some inexplicable reason, I handed over all the change in my ashtray to a homeless person nearby. As the signal turned green, I made my left and within moments, a huge truck plowed into my car head-on.
As my car was being loaded onto the tow truck, the operator asked me, "Is the driver okay?" To which I responded, "I’m okay". His initial reaction was of surprise. Soon, realization dawned upon him that I wasn’t joking and he expressed his astonishment.
He said in his 20 years of towing career, he had never come across anyone surviving such a severe accident, let alone standing and chatting with him while the car was being hoisted up.
36. Safety In Waiting
Living in Colorado, I've seen more reckless mountain driving than I'd care to. One day, I was caught in a traffic jam snaking down a two-lane mountain pass. A man in a shiny, brand new BMW decided he was too important to wait.
As he took his chances overtaking the queue on the narrow oncoming lane, he dodged straight into a blind curve. A truck appeared from the turn and sent him swerving left, where he made a beeline for the concrete wall. His BMW met the barrier, activating the crumple zone and causing the front third of his car to crumple like an aluminium soda can.
Sweet karma: immediate, unforgiving, and he was the only one caught up in the mishap. Fortunately, he escaped unscathed, but there was no doubt that his BMW had reached the end of its road.
Pixabay
37. A Great Exchange
A couple of years ago, my friend and I were exploring Germany and made up our minds to visit Amsterdam. However, getting there was a total disaster. Cutting a long story short, we found ourselves stuck on a bus at about 11 pm due to train malfunctions. To make matters worse, we hadn't managed to grab a bite since the break of dawn.
As you can imagine, the mood on the bus was pretty glum. As we were sitting there in anticipation of the journey, we overheard some chatter coming from behind us. Turns out, it was an elderly German lady's birthday. The bus turned into a mini celebration as everyone joined in singing and wishing her a happy birthday.
She then muttered something that I couldn't quite make out. So, I turned to the stranger sitting behind us and asked what she'd said. Apparently, all the birthday girl wished for was a glass of water. Luckily, I make it a habit to always have a water bottle on me.
I took out the bottle, shook it a little, and uttered, "Wasser". Then, out of the blue, a hand appeared above us and flopped two sandwiches into our laps. We couldn't contain our gratitude for the unexpected and much-needed meal.
38. He Was Rubber, She Was Glue
There was this girl at school who had a knack for pestering everyone, just getting under their skin. She would mess around by throwing a stress ball at other kids, aiming for their heads. One time, she took aim at this one guy. Someone called out, "Watch out!" to the kid.
On hearing this, he looked up, saw the ball flying towards him and instinctively raised his hands to deflect it. The ball rebounded off his arms and flew right back towards the girl, hitting her smack on the mouth. Even though it was just a soft, squeezy stress ball, not causing her any pain, the whole incident was hilariously ironic.
We all couldn't contain our laughter, looking at the surprised expression on her face. The embarrassment got to her and she quietly took her seat. Although it didn't put a complete stop to her bothersome antics, it did make her quit throwing stuff at people's heads.
39. An Entertaining View
During my broke college years, some high school students living down the street badly scratched my car. The damage was so bad my front door barely opened and the mirror was completely knocked off. I confronted them but I had no evidence to prove they were at fault.
Fixing this damage was beyond my financial capabilities at the time. But life has a way of sorting things out. Just a week later, while I was studying by my second-floor window, I saw them speeding out of our neighborhood. They ended up crashing directly into a tree and completely wrecking their car.
I had a bird's-eye view of the whole scene as all four of them got out of the car. The driver was in tears, without his shirt, lying on the pavement. His mother arrived soon after and gave him a verbal thrashing loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.
40. A Balancing Act
One day, I watched a guy wrestling with a precarious pile of five shoe boxes under one arm while juggling a cell phone call with his free hand. Seeing his struggle, I thought it might be worth disrupting his conversation to suggest stowing his shoe boxes behind the counter so he could shop more freely.
With a smile, I offered through a polite gesture to hold them for him, only for him to meet my offer with a scowl of utter contempt. Unfazed, I shrugged it off and moved along to assist another customer who was in need of something from our stockroom.
By the time I returned with the requested item, she had found herself lending a hand to the very man I'd interacted with earlier. He'd ended up dropping his entire shoe collection on the floor. It was a shoe storm out there, but once we teamed up and sorted out the mess, he skidaddled off in a hurry, not sparing me a single glance.
41. Problematic Attitude
One day, I found myself patiently waiting to launch my boat at a solitary boat ramp in sunny Florida. There was a chap before me struggling to reverse down his trailer to retrieve his boat from the water. His wife and a pair of kids were hanging around on the dock, waiting.
Meanwhile, a rather frustrated onlooker who also wanted to get onto dry land was hollering and chastising the poor newbie who was just trying to get his boat onto his trailer. Finally, the guy manages to get his trailer into position.
Now, the impatient man, who had by this time moored his own boat, started making his way along the dock, screaming at the boat-launching novice. He let his frustration get the better of him, deciding to punch the guy, sending him tumbling into the water.
Just then, two undercover officers, who had been stealthily observing the scene, sprung into action. Solidly built and notably unnoticed until now, they intercepted the hotheaded man. Before he knew what was happening, they had him pinned on the dock, handcuffs secured, after revealing their badges.
Turned out, they had been keeping a close eye on the boat ramp. The bystanders who were still in line for their turn to launch or dock, suddenly erupted into applause and cheers.
42. In A Hurry To Get Nowhere
A guy was zipping down the street, swerving onto the roadside to overtake anyone who wasn't moving fast enough for his liking (which was everyone). Even though the street had a pretty relaxed speed limit, he was blowing past at a hazardous speed. And this was a neighborhood street, mind you.
Then, up ahead, about half a mile, a cloud of smoke was visible. I pulled up at the smoky scene, only to find the speed demon and his car in a total wreck, engine crushed flat as a pancake. Apparently, a bus had been making a broad turn, taking up both lanes, and this guy was moving too fast to react.
He'd tried to zip past the bus as it was turning, with disastrous results.
43. Know Your Luck
It was quite late at night, nearing morning. The roads were almost deserted, but I knew just my luck—if I dared cross a red light, despite the seemingly empty streets, an officer would somehow magically appear and slap me with a fine.
Suddenly, I stopped at a red light and another car rolled up beside me, revving its engine like it was challenging me to a race. I had absolutely no desire to race, hence I didn't pay attention to what this car was attempting to do.
The car was noticeably high-end and even if I had the slightest desire to race, I inherently knew it was a race I would stand no chance of winning. As the signal turned green, he floored it, burning rubber and tearing off down the path ahead.
Out of nowhere, I noticed him swerving wildly from afar and colliding into a streetlight. I casually kept driving, passing by the accident scene, and couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of him stepping out from his mangled car, a look of disbelief and irritation plastered across his face.
44. Check Yourself
This rich kid stopped next to me at a traffic light in his ultra-luxury, latest model Porsche. Judging from his ride, I gathered he was well-off. He rather rudely yelled at me about his plans to break all the traffic rules by speeding past the red light, insisting, "The laws are just for peasants like you!"
His overconfidence seemed to be blocking his view because he clearly missed what I spotted in his rear-view mirror. There was an enforcement officer nonchalantly stationed behind us, unusually interested in our car-race drama.
I did my best to feign ignorance about the officer’s presence and I slyly provoked the arrogant chap, saying, "You don't have the guts to break that signal! Too chickenhearted for it!"
As expected, the guy sped past the red light flaunting his rebellious spirit and—true to my prediction— the officer promptly launched into action, rapidly moving from behind my car to the traffic violator's lane and pulled him over.
45. A Slippery Slope
My hubby was transferring our pet's newly topped-up water bowl from the sink to its feeding mat. Our dog dashed right into him, causing the water to sprawl all over the floor. A fit of laughter took over me and I playfully called him a klutz.
In the brief two minutes it took him to locate the mop, my mind had already glossed over the water hazard on the floor. I trekked right through it, en route to our tumble dryer.
Consequently, I took a nasty spill on the harsh granite tiles. I came out of it with a fractured arm, a mild concussion, and a stitched-up wound on the side of my head.
46. Honesty Is The Best Policy
One day, my spouse and I decided to grab some sandwiches. As I paid for our order, I noticed the total was roughly half of what I expected. I shrugged it off, assuming there may be a promotional discount at play.
However, once we reached our car, my wife scrutinized the receipt and discovered we'd only been billed for a single sandwich rather than the two we'd ordered.
I decided to return to the sandwich shop and explained the oversight to them. The staff, appreciative of my honesty, only asked for half the price of the unpaid sandwich. To sweeten the deal, they even threw in a couple of cookies on the house.
47. Stuck In Her Ways
During my high school days, I worked for my city's street department. One of our duties included patching up streets, and for a day like this, we had a lane temporarily blocked off. However, a woman in a stylish, high-end car, seemingly in a rush, ignored my sign which clearly indicated "stop".
When I tried to instruct her to halt, she simply cursed and drove past me. In her hurry, she drove straight into a pool of freshly poured concrete, which went up as high as the base of her vehicle doors.
Next, she attempted to get off the car, not minding her high heels, while we watched silently from a distance as she spoiled her costly footwear. Instead of appealing for assistance, she chose to unleash a torrent of insults at us before finally getting out of her car barefoot and storming away.
Her car, deeply stuck in wet concrete, had to be towed away.
48. Expensive Trash
There was a constant problem at my business with people using my dumpster without permission. You wouldn't believe how pricey having a business dumpster can be. I share mine with two other nearby businesses, and despite the dumpster being emptied three times a week, we are charged a hefty $400 a month for this service.
It's truly exasperating to find the dumpster loaded with rubbish that isn't ours. Frustrated by the elusive trespassers, I decided to install a surveillance camera. One day, while on the roof of my building fixing the wiring, I noticed a guy sneakily throwing a carpet and garden waste into the dumpster. I chose to forego a confrontational approach.
Instead, I dialed the non-emergency number and provided the license plate details and a description of the sneaky dumper. An officer soon arrived to verify the details, and we were in my shop discussing the matter when I spotted the same man backing his truck up to the dumpster.
He must not have seen the squad car parked in front of my establishment, or maybe he just didn't bother. The officer instructed the guy to pull out all the dumped trash back into his truck, which meant he had to climb into the dumpster and drench himself in the garden waste.
Once all the garbage, including his previous load, was back in his truck cab, the officer handed him a $500 fine for unlawful dumping. The stunned expression on the man's face was worth a million bucks.
49. Left With Nothing But Her Own Company
During one of my trips returning home from Hawaii, I experienced a unique situation on a crowded airplane. Finding a sour-faced lady sitting in my assigned window seat, I reminded her politely that she was in my place.
After checking her boarding pass, she realized she was indeed seated in the wrong location—the aisle seat across from where I was standing actually belonged to her. However, she began to argue vehemently, insisting that she HAD to sit next to her husband and outright refused to move.
Rather than engage in a pointless argument, I opted to take her designated seat instead. What surprised me was that she didn't even acknowledge this with as much as a "thank you". Once the plane was airborne and the in-flight entertainment, including free movies and TV shows, was available, something wonderful happened.
Turning my gaze, I saw her in a heated exchange with a flight attendant because her TV system was malfunctioning. The airline crew member apologized but explained to her that the flight was completely booked and there was no way she could switch seats. She was stuck in a five-hour flight with no entertainment whatsoever.
50. Just Stop
My next-door neighbour trailed me down my driveway, ranting about me not fully stopping at the stop sign. I responded with a friendly apology, even if I felt his reaction was a bit excessive given that we reside on a peaceful street. He continued to vent and swear as he reversed away from my driveway. However, as luck would have it, he backed right into my tree.
The whole side of his car crumpled, and his mirror dislodged completely. Not pausing to inspect the damage, he sped off down the road, ironically failing to stop at the same stop sign.
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