“Karma has a surprising way of taking care of situations. All you have to do is to sit back and watch.”—Anonymous.
Who doesn’t like a good karma story? The saying “what goes around comes around” sure gets tossed around a lot. But in reality, life is usually much more complicated. Every day, it looks like the world’s evil-doers get to walk around, scot-free and without care for the damage they’ve dealt.
That makes instant karma stories all the more satisfying. With bleak times ahead, who doesn't love tales of universally-dealt justice?
Reddit asked its users to share their best stories about people getting what theirs. Unsurprisingly, many of these tales are related to the woes of traffic and customer service-related. From parking spot drama to the mothers that shouldn’t be messed with, delight in these 41 satisfying stories about millennial karma.
41. Red Alert
I was waiting at a red light to cross the main street of my town. My light goes green, so I start driving, at the same time a truck to my right starts going. I hit my brakes to avoid hitting him, and this kid is looking at me like I'm the jerk.
As soon as he's clear, I finish crossing, and I see lights start flashing. He ran the red while being directly in front of a cop.
40. The Bicycle Thief
Happened while visiting NY. I watched someone bend down to pick up a wallet someone ahead of them had just dropped. All of this was going down in the crosswalk, and I was in the passenger seat with my dad driving. Guy A who picked up the wallet began to run it to Guy B, who was already across the street and while doing so, his wallet fell out of his pocket and on the sidewalk/crosswalk area.
Some crummy dude in the bike lane rode up a little way ahead, bent down, and picked it up and just started heading off. Just grabbed it and began to ride away like a bunch of cars hadn’t just watched him. My dad was about to say something when a cop car adjacent to us swerved in front of cycler and made him give it back. Cycler bumped into the cop car and was trying to go around when he was tackled. I think they might’ve arrested him but the light changed so we couldn’t stick around.
Coolest instant karma I’ve ever seen.
39. Better Hit the Gas
We were driving home late from work one night, (both bartenders, maybe midnight). We live in a small community, and we were at the 1/4 mile section that goes from 55, to 45, to 35, to 25.
A giant lifted truck decided that he wanted to continue going 55, he was UP OUR BUTT, lights on, so close you couldn't even see his bumper. It was like his lights were in our car.
Pretty much two seconds after one of us said, "Where's a cop when you need one?", a deputy passed us going the opposite direction and immediately flipped a switch and pulled him over.
Still gives me the warm fuzzies. Screw that guy.
38. The Higher They Fall
Drunk guy at the bar started yelling at the bartender for cutting him off. Called her names multiple times and then tried to scoot his bar stool back. Instead, it caught on the carpet and he fell backwards like a tree falling.
It made a very audible thud and of course, everyone stops what they're doing to look. He laid there for a minute, got up and stumbled to the door as everyone continued to stare at him. Definitely never saw him again.
37. Hitting the Bricks
A guy kicked a dog and ran full speed into a brick wall as the dog chased him.
36. The Gates of Wrath
I was making fun of my sister-in-law for not being able to open the baby gate, I opened it still making fun of her, went to walk through it and my hip caught it, forcing it closed with me in it. I have a MASSIVE very painful bruise on my hip now.
YouTube
35. Remember Me?
I work in the parking lot as a cart pusher. One lady pushed the cart to the side and got in her car to back up, but the cart (since it was not in a corral) rolled back behind her car and she backed into it pretty hard. Me and my coworkers laughed our butts off.
34. You Have Right to Remain Silent. Use It.
Saw a guy yelling at another guy in traffic, the guy that was yelling continued to speed off and got pulled over by an undercover cop car on the side of the road.
33. The Customer Isn’t Always Right
Watched an entitled angry man abuse and belittle his server to the point of tears. Then he hitched up his belt and looked pleased with himself as he swaggered off the restaurant deck, tripped on the stairs, and face planted in the sand on the beach (This was a vacation in Florida).
My wife looked mortified as I laughed right out loud at the guy. He got up, saw everyone staring and at least one person openly laughing, and quickstepped off down the beach.
32. School Zones Aren’t Just a Suggestion
I was riding the bus to school once. As it is picking up kids some guy passes the bus while the bus's red lights are flashing. A cop literally turns the corner the second after and pulls him over.
31. Park Your Bad Manners Somewhere Else
I work at a movie theater. One afternoon, I was selling tickets at the box office when an older lady came up and asked me a question about our app (it’s a Cinemark app).
I, however, wasn’t sure about the answer and told her that. She proceeded to say, very rudely, “Isn’t is your job to know??? Are you stupid or something?”
Then, she turned around and noticed the mall cop was writing her a ticket for parking in a handicap spot when she did not have a handicap plate or placard. She took off running screaming, “Wait stop! That’s my car!”
I couldn’t keep the huge grin off my face for the rest of the day.
30. Move One and Meltdown
One day a few years ago, I was grabbing McDonald's near work to eat something last second before my shift. It was one of those two-lane microphone deals. I blatantly finish ordering before the other lane before he stomps on the gas to cut me off.
His car breaks down right there, and I get to take my rightful turn in line.
29. Just Desserts
Was buying some drinks at a circle K one day while visiting someone in Florida and these old tourists cut us in line, all the while complaining loudly about everything: how expensive everything is, how crowded the beach is, it’s too hot, etc.
They are also really rude to the cashier and take forever arguing about the price of the hot dogs they were buying or something.
They leave and as we walk out, we witness a seagull come and snatch the guy’s hot dog right out of his hand. His wife then shrieks and proceeds to drop hers out of surprise.
I know it isn’t that big of a deal, but it was so freaking hilarious watching that happening that I still remember it five years later.
28. Ready, Aim, Get Fired
Not 100% “instant” karma, but pretty quickly. See, I work for a staffing agency. I’m a recruiter. Pretty small team and this was actually another recruiter on my team that this happened to.
My co-worker was working with this guy who was pretty sharp. He was a programmer. His company was doing layoffs, but he was told he wouldn’t be affected. My co-worker contacted him, chatted about the situation and he said he would be interested in looking around.
We just had a new client give us a position to help on that fit his background. We lined up an interview pretty quickly, he interviewed and got the position! Great. It was even a little salary bump. Straight direct hire, no contract stuff. He goes in, works his first week. All is great, all smiles.
Well, that next Monday shows up and he isn’t there. The company calls us asking where he is, so my co-worker calls him. He answers the phone and my co-worker asks “Hey, is everything okay? You no call no showed today over at XYZ company.” And the guy proceeds to tell us “Yeah, I never actually quit my job. I just took vacation for the week to see if I liked the place. It was okay, but I’ll just stay here.”
My co-worker responds “Man, is there anything I can do? This puts us in a tight spot, this is a brand-new customer of ours, can I do anything” and the guy tells us “Quite frankly I don’t give a darn what kind of position it puts you in nor do I care if they are a new customer. I’m staying, don’t call me again.” And hangs up the phone.
He got laid off the next week.
27. The Sweet Taste of Your Own Laziness
The washers and dryers in my apartment building are run through Bluetooth and an app you download on your phone. I figured out that if I put my phone on airplane mode while simultaneously pressing the start button on the machine, the washer would start but I wouldn’t get charged.
I was so proud, tried the same thing on the dryer and it worked. Went to get my clothes out of the dryer an hour later and everything was covered in melted Hershey kisses.
26. Score!
I was waiting in the queue at Burger King. While I was looking at the menu board, a bunch of high school kids of some team sport cut my queue. It was like 15 of them and like they grouped up in a round and slowly went in front of me when I wasn't looking. I gave an annoyed look but just waited in line.
A cashier opens his counter and called for me and I got right in front of all of them even before the lady in charge of that sports team who was waiting on the other counter.
25. It’s “Haw-Haw!”
Worked after school care for school-age kids. There was this one kid who was pretty obnoxious and got under everyone’s skin. One day, I see him walk into the room just needling another kid.
He ends his provoking with a Nelson from The Simpsons “ha ha!”, spins around, and face plants on the ground. The kid he was provoking gave him a “ha ha!” back and walked off.
Obnoxious kid gets up, dusts himself off, and humbly slinks away and is pretty quiet for the rest of the day.
24. That Hits the Spot
I was at an All Good festival once and there was one of those dudes who was just pure id. You know, shouting insults, screaming, throwing stuff at people, just an animal. He was slightly uphill from a main intersection, only maybe thirty feet from the crowd. I was standing around waiting for a friend.
The dude's campsite was total BS, with some poorly planned tarp-city thing held up by a nylon rope that was strung over a pickup truck and secured by slamming a car door shut on it.
Suddenly, the guy throws his beer at the crowd, crawls up on top of the car, and starts tight-roping it between the car and the truck. I was very impressed that he made it at least two steps before the rope slipped a few inches in the car door, the guy spread his legs, and he dropped three feet straight onto the suspended rope.
I have never in my life seen a guy wrack his crotch so hard. In a fetal position, he spun around the rope in slow motion until he was upside down. Then the rope scraped across the roof of the truck, fell between the cab and the bed, partially collapsed the tarp city, and dropped the jerk a couple more feet onto his head in the mud.
The jerk got up, shut up, looked a little embarrassed, and limped away as his infuriated friends boiled out of their wrecked home.
23. Say Neigh to the Close-Up
When I was a kid I went horse riding at a holiday center.
These parents insisted their kid go on the biggest horse as apparently the family had "owned horses for years and their kid was the best rider."
Dad of the family walks right behind a horse with a brand new video camera in a camera bag.
Horse kicks the camera, breaking it beyond repair.
22. Revenge is Dish Best Served After the Expiration Date
Was in the lunch line in elementary school, and the lunch staff kept all of the milk in a big cooler that you would grab from right before punching in your lunch number.
Girl ahead of me was my friend, but we had been arguing that day. I knew she didn’t like chocolate milk, but I did. She grabbed the last one out of the cooler to spite me. While opening the cardboard container and taking a long sip, she discovered it was spoiled and spit it out. Instant justice.
21. Gotta Be First
Was on a road trip last week. Guy in the left lane was slowly passing a truck so there were about five of us stacked up patiently waiting for the logjam to clear. Jerk in a Mercedes breaks ranks into the right lane, speeds ahead, and tries to cut in to save himself three car lengths of trouble. All cars band together to not let him in. He almost ran the car behind me off the road and nearly sideswiped him before taking his rightful place in the back.
Well, he was pissed after that and was tailgating and in general driving like a jerk. He eventually sped off well over 100 mph. Saw him about 20 minutes later pulled over by a state trooper. Laughed my butt off as I passed his candy butt.
20. Pay It Forward
I liked going to the local fruit stand near my old job before work. It's a small family owned and run place. A little kid was working the register and accidentally gave me back more than I gave them. I give back the money and correct the mistake, insisting it happens and to not worry about it, I'm not telling nobody.
The kid must have told her kin folk about two weeks later and I didn't pay for fruit for the next month until I got another job.
Karma works both ways!
19. Ball Gag Blues
A girl in school used to tease everyone and just be generally annoying. She was tossing this stress ball around and aimed it at this one kid's head. Someone yelled "look out" at him and so he looked up, saw the ball coming at him, and put up his hands in self-defense.
It bounced off his arms and back at the girl and hit her right in the mouth. It was a soft squishy stress ball, so it didn't hurt her, but we all openly laughed at her and her surprised expression so she sat down quietly from embarrassment. She still kept being annoying, but she stopped throwing things at people's heads.
18. When It Rains, It Pours
At a big sports tournament after a game and it’s raining a bit—an aggressive driver can’t be bothered with people rushing to their cars and almost runs over a kid, yells at people in his way and decides to weave around traffic to get out of the place quicker.
There is a sawhorse blocking the exit he is not supposed to go out. The rain is getting heavier. Everyone is watching this impatient person as he gets out his car to move the sawhorse and bypass the traffic line and pedestrian traffic due to self-entitlement. When he gets out to move the sawhorse/barrier he closes his car door and locks himself out of the car with the car running. Downpour ensues. Instant Karma.
17. No Holds Barred
Stated dating a girl a few months back and her ex was being just a huge jerk to her, threatening to fight me if he saw me, trying to start rumors, etc...
Went out for drinks with the girlfriend and, of course, he shows up. Starts to get in my face at the bar and gets kicked out. Rushes the door guy to get back in and is carried out and banned from that bar for life.
Then I had another genius thought... What if I could do this at the bar next door..? (It's a smallish town. There are really only two bars worth going to for nightlife, and they're right next door to each other.)
So, we go next door. He's waiting outside for me but there's the usual "don't do it bro!" friends around him so I make it next door without having to fight. Of course, he comes in, starts his act and actually tries to fight me this time. He gets pulled off by a few people and is also kicked out of that bar for at least a while.
Fight with your brain, not your fists.
16. Clocked on the Dock
I was waiting to put in at a boat ramp in Florida one day. It was a single ramp, the guy trying to take his boat out of the water was having a tough time backing his trailer down. His wife (I assume) and two kids were waiting on the dock.
Some jerk waiting to get out of the water starts screaming at him and heckling him. The first guy finally gets his trailer down the ramp, meanwhile, raging jerk had docked his boat and started up the dock towards the poor boating newbie family guy screaming and yelling. Raging jerk punches family guy and knocks him off the dock into the water.
Two burly dudes that nobody was really paying attention to walk up, literally grab raging jerk as family guy was falling in the water, throw him on the dock and handcuff him, then flashed their FL DNR badges. They were undercover watching the boat ramp.
There was applause and cheering from the folks waiting to put in and take out.
Family guy just wants to get out there and go home, so he declines to press charges. The DNR guys apparently thought "aw hells no," proceed to tear the guy's boat and car apart and ended charging him with a BUI and every single nitpicky thing they could find wrong his boat.
It was a good day.
15. Tree of Laughs
Not instant but when I was a broke college student the high schoolers down the street sideswiped my car so bad my front door wouldn't open all the way and the mirror was gone. Confronted them but couldn't prove it. Couldn't afford to fix it.
The next week, they come screeching out of the neighborhood while I'm studying next to the second-floor window. They crash headlong into a tree and total their car. I had a comfortable view as all four of them got out and the driver was sobbing his sorry butt shirtless on the pavement till his mom came and cussed him out loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.
14. Grand Theft Cheddar
A girl at a pizza place took money out of the tip jar to pay for her extra toppings. She did this after screaming at the poor person working that she couldn’t believe it was an extra 50 cents for more cheese.
On my way home, I saw her getting arrested, not sure for what, but I'm sure she had it coming.
13. Spew Your Heart Out
Guy spewed vomit all over the floor in the bathroom at a bar. As I left the bathroom, a big muscly guy in overalls (no undershirt) was coming in. I tried to get his attention and stop him, but he just shouldered me out of the way.
He slipped on said vomit and swore as he fell. As he put his hand down to lift himself up, he yelled a much louder swear! As he realized the vomitus was all over himself.
12. Better You Than Me
My cousin parked her car on the street near my house. My neighbor came out and yelled about how that was her spot. My cousin simply moved her car rather than argue.
A few hours later, one of the children who live on our street ran into my neighbor’s car in that exact spot.
11. He Can Really Pick Them
I ran my husband’s drunk girlfriend out of my house. She goes to the nearest gas station where they call the cops and she gets her second DUI.
10. I Let It Slip
Was a lifeguard and a kid (9-10 years old) kept running around on the pool deck. He clearly heard me several times yelling at him to walk, and he ignored me. Next time he ran, he slipped and fell flat on his butt and started crying.
The only thing I said was “That’s why I told you to walk” and his mom definitely gave me the evil eye. I didn’t give a darn though, that’s what you get for not following the rules!
9. Jelly-Filled Retribution
Spend my last few dollars on a donut instead of using it to tip the person who filled my gas. Dropped my donut as I pulled out the gas station.
8. Mama Bear
At a concert my mom accidentally stepped on a lady’s foot, and she said sorry multiple times, but the lady very drunk wouldn't let it go and started a fight with my mom. Very bad idea, my mom’s ex-MMA. Straight knockout.
My mom met that lady again a year ago at an event for her work, and apparently, the lady stopped drinking from what happened that night, being told by her friends she wouldn't leave my mom alone even after countless times of apologizing.
Maybe it was good karma?
7. Brew This Bitterness
Last week, my youngest daughter had her last day of preschool. Between my two girls, we've been associated with this school for almost ten years. My wife and I wanted to do something nice for them so we offered to buy them Starbucks.
As I'm about to enter the Starbucks' parking lot, a guy runs a stop sign, narrowly missing me. He pulls in, I pull in next to him. I hurriedly scramble out of my car to beat him to the line.
It was fun listening to them call my name for all 15 drinks before that guy got his.
6. Cycle of Getting Yours
I remember once walking home from school, and this kid from my school rode up to me on his bike and started bullying me, trying to run me over and stuff like that.
Next thing, not looking where he was going the kid runs over a rock, falls off his bike and smashes himself on the concrete. He was laying there crying and asking for help and I just kept walking. I regret nothing.
5. Karma Comes From the Corner Office
My boss got Instant Karma for mocking me!
I had a day off work and as I was making breakfast I accidentally sliced my fingertip with a bread knife. I wrapped it up and went to Urgent Care. It didn't need stitches, but the doctor put a couple steri-strips on it and said not to use it for a day or two and stay off a keyboard.
I went into work the next morning, told my boss that I had to stay off a keyboard for a couple days, so I had to do some other kind of customer service that didn't involve typing. She said no problem.
As I walked out of the room I remembered I had to tell her something else and as I was walking back in, I heard her mocking my injury. Just as she finished, she accidentally slammed the door of the one-ton safe on her hand. I laughed and said Karma's a thing. She said yeah, I kind of deserved that.
She didn't break it but she couldn't use it so she had to call another supervisor to come in for the day so she could get it checked out. When the gauze came off my finger a couple days later and saw the strips holding it together she admitted that it did look kinda bad and she shouldn't have made fun. I accepted and brushed the incident off.
4. On Thin Ice
We were driving on a very icy 35mph-limit road, in a 4wd car, after one of the first big snowstorms of the winter. We're doing ~25mph, which is about as fast as we feel we can push it, given the ice sheet over everything since the snow melted to slush and re-froze overnight. We've been driving in snow/ice our whole lives, we know what'll work and what is risky, and conditions are BAD. All other traffic is basically moving at our speed or even slower.
A shiny new lifted red dodge pickup pulls up behind us, tailgating, revving his engine, etc. Basically, everything is screaming, "Big man in his big truck doesn't need to be held up by some crummy car that can't handle the snow!"
We hit a straight section and give him an easy chance to pass us. He takes it, and quickly accelerates to~40 (which would be the typical speed for the road in the summer). About 400 feet beyond us, the road takes a moderate curve left. He tries to turn, but it's a solid sheet of ice—the truck just goes straight into a parked car and guardrail, right in front of a dozen or so witnesses.
We coast past at ~25, making the turn without issue. His front end was pretty smashed up—maybe not totaled, but I'd be amazed if he could drive it to the shop.
3. Spinning Out of Control
I hit my girlfriend in the forehead with a spinning fidget spinner. She chased me, I jumped on my bed, and my ceiling fan smacked the living snot out of me.
She was on the floor laughing for a solid five minutes.
I am a firm believer in karma now... or maybe just idiocy on my part.
2. Ladies Worst
Saw some lady road raging hard at slow traffic going over a dangerous mountain pass. She was trying to run people off the road trying to get around them. I've never seen anything like it, she could've killed someone.
Saw her getting forcefully arrested by like six cops at the bottom of the mountain on the other side. Face-pinned to hood and screaming.
1. Talk Smack, Get Whacked
My wife was jogging, and a man starts driving slow and catcalling her. Doesn’t realize it’s a red light and rear-ends a truck, totally destroying his Prius. Cop was stopped at the same red light and saw the whole situation. Cop laughed and asked my wife to fill out a witness statement.
It was a busy street, so when I say “driving slow,” I mean he slowed down while passing her, probably hit the lady in the truck doing about 35 in a 50.
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