
Let's be real for a moment: It's always satisfying to see someone get their just desserts.
That was the inspiration behind today's burning question from Redditor taz93v, who asked: "What is the best case of instant karma you have witnessed?"
Reading these is an almost spiritual experience.
"A customer being..."
A customer being an absolute tool and treating me like a lesser being just because I work in a convenience store and was threatening to get my pay cut in half, "but then again, you don't make that much anyway".
His card declined and he had to abandon his items. It was glorious.
"So we're working Labor Day..."
I have a co-worker who's an older lady. She's pretty annoying. She butts into conversations and is braggy about the weirdest things. I think she's just really insecure.
So we're working Labor Day and everyone's bummed to be there because it's slow and pointless. Our manager offers to buy KFC to cheer everyone up and boost morale. We're all excitedly ordering when Glenda (annoying lady) shows up and asks why everyone's so excited. We tell her about KFC and ask if she wants anything spceifically. She goes on to say that she brought lunch already - a DELICIOUS spicy meal that's HEALTHY AND HOMEMADE and she doesn't need KFC but you should just SEE how delicious her meal is.
We're like "Okay, whatever anyway..." and proceed to put in our orders. Seeing that the attention is off her, Glenda proceeds to microwave her meal (her shift just started) and bring it back to literally waft the meal in front of us all "See how delicious! It's made with..." she recites this to everyone. We're all annoyed but let it pass. Finally, she goes to her last co-worker and wafts to bowl over the cubicle but tilts her lunch dish too far and spills her soupy chicken meal RIGHT into her handbag.
My boss said "That's what you get for bragging."
"I see a cop..."
I see a cop in an unmarked car on the highway and get behind her in the left lane. Some lady then starts tailgating me, escalates to the horn and flipping me off. She then pulls in the middle lane, passes me on the right, flipping me off and swearing. I smile and wave, knowing what's about to happen. As soon as she passes the car in front of me, the lights go on and she gets pulled over.
"My mom bought my son new shoes..."
My mom bought my son new shoes - he put them on and started to walk away and my mom says, "Wait, let me cut off the tag before you fall on your face", of course my son said, "NO" and he ran away.....soon as he went around the corner he tripped and face planted. Kid's had instant karma since birth, it's a blessing and a curse all at the same time.
"Guess what the cat did?"
My friend's overzealous three year old nephew was told that he could not rough-house with my friend's skittish rescue cat like he could with his big Maine Coon at home because the cat would probably bite or scratch him. His nephew scowled, stomped, and attempted to roughly grab the cat.
Guess what the cat did?
"I almost ran into someone..."
I almost ran into someone who was on their phone, they yelled at me to watch where I was going. They then proceeded to run into a pole and drop their phone, screen down.
"Watched a class bully..."
Watched a class bully shove down the kid with the heart murmur in front of me (some exposition, fella with the murmur is always nice, but tires quickly and often fainted if they pushed themselves physically, so they're on the tiny and bone thin side - bully bait). This bully guy? Real piece of work, liked hocking spitballs during classes and everything. I'm a pretty big guy, and man I'd had it with them, but just as I'm about to give this prick a shove to match his own, the guy beside me beats me to it.
As I said, I'm no shorty... but this guy next to me, was HUGE. The bully stumbled so hard he tripped, and looked back like he was about to do something.
Mister hero met him with their glowering face, and said, "Do it, MFer." Discussion over. Bully paled, tucked tail and that was that.
"Last night this guy was high beaming..."
Last night this guy was high beaming me from behind and driving like a total psycho. He sped and I lost him. Caught up as he was being written a ticket.
"I was driving down the highway..."
I was driving down the highway in buck-nowhere Iowa once -- no other traffic except for the pickup truck that got closer and closer behind me until they were tailgating. I could hear the engine revving, trying to get around me but they couldn't at that exact moment because the road was curvy and they couldn't see far enough around to know it was safe.
That's when I saw a deer wander into the shoulder ahead of me. I had enough advance warning that I could ease my speed down to avoid the deer. Which of course infuriated the tailgater, who decided to speed around my left, flipping me off and laying into his horn.
The horn spooked the deer, who darted into the road and got hit at high speed by tailgater. Deer died instantly. Driver was saved by his airbag but the truck was totaled.
Once emergency services arrived he was humiliated enough to ask me to leave.
"Driving home..."
Driving home on New Years at a reasonable speed. Car zooms past me going over 85 at least. Second car zooms past me just as fast and turns his lights on.
Another time I was driving in traffic and someone was weaving in and out dangerously. Passing on the right, cutting people off, riding their asses, the works. About a mile later I saw that same car pulled over by a cop.
Oh another time I was a substitute teacher. This kid was being an absolutely @sshat to everyone in the room. Not doing the work, distracting everyone, not allowing me to teach... he was standing on a desk and I was telling him to get down. I told him it wasn't safe, he could hurt himself, etc. he goes to jump off to show off to everyone watching, the desk moves from under him and he face plants. Everyone laughed and he cried. It was so hard to not say I told you so.
"Had an ex..."
Had an ex throw an unopened can of beer at me. It bounced off the wall and hit him square between the eyes.
Thank you Karma!
"This dude was raging..."
This dude was raging for no apparent reason on the street and swearing like a sailor, walking next to me. He decided to cross the road and hit some van in the back with his fist, screaming "you come out of that car and I'll kill you". Well, the van driver did come out and let rip on him so bad, he was looking like a scolded little boy by the end of it.
"Every single time..."
Every single time my husband does something to me he gets dosed with instant karma. It could be something as small as tickling my feet (I hate that) and he'll either stub his toe, trip, hit into the doorframe, etc moments later. It is a constant thing and you'd think he'd learn by now, but nope. Irritating me is apparently worth the instant karma.
"Was at a party once..."
Was at a party once, some dude stereotypical macho man was pretty much being a jerk. He was progressively getting more aggressive and drunk. Eventually he decided he wanted to leave, the party host was like "no man, you're drunk I'm keeping your keys" well macho bro decided this wouldn't fly so he waited and ambushed the host, hit him over the head with a lamp or some table ornament. (Didn't see that part, whatever it was it was made of porcelain) grabs his keys a bolts out the door, people rush to stop him but he hops in his truck and peels out. Bam strikes a tree right before the road, of course he wasn't buckled up, smashed his head on the windshield
"Was watching my buddy stream..."
Was watching my buddy stream on twitch. He and I were just chatting and the conversation turned to one of our mutual friends (of whom I've name a child after). I went on a very brief bragging session about our mutual friend and how he's such an awesome human.
When I started watching the stream, I was the only viewer. Unbeknownst to me our mutual friend also popped in but was just lurking. I found out he was there when he said something to the effect of "thanks for the compliments guys".
I got ultra embarrassed for just a moment, then said something like " well now I'm embarrassed but I mean every word".
We are all grown men approaching 40 years old. In this case it was instant positive karma for my buddy and a good reminder for me to tell my friends and family how much they really mean to me.
"My dad..."
My dad was an assh*le to a fast food worker so they gave him a bag full of chicken strips instead of what he ordered. His entire order, in correct boxes, but it was all chicken strips in place of burgers, fries, onion rings, etc. I did NOT mind.
"Then I watched him ride..."
Several years ago i watched some tool ride his bicycle down the road with no hands, holding his mobile out in front of him taking a selfie. Then i watched him ride into the back of a parked van.
Nearly choked from laughing.
"Sat in filtering bus traffic..."
Sat in filtering traffic the black range rover in front let a few vehicles in and then crept forward to close the gap, the man in the car who didn't get let through was so mad he got out of his car a started to kick the range rover.
He then got arrested by the policemen in the range rover.
"He was so intent..."
I was in a parking lot walking towards a store with two friends. Three people were walking out: a young couple and an older lady (girl's mom, maybe). I was half-ogling the younger gal. Didn't think I was being too obvious, but apparently her boyfriend disagreed and got noticeably mad. A couple seconds later he was sprawled out in the parking lot. He was so intent on staring me down that he didn't pay attention to where he was going, and fell off the curb.
"Little ricer with no headlights on..."
Little ricer with no headlights on at night speeding and jumping multiple lanes at a time without using the blinkers. Rear ended a cop car right in front of me.
I would love to know how people don't fear death.
I mean, it's the end. Life will be over. That kind of sucks.
Yet there are people who find tranquility in it.
Can you teach the rest of us?
Redditor deensuk wanted to hear from everyone who has a calmness about the heading to the afterlife. They asked:
"People who are not scared of death, why?"
I have a constant fear of death. I wanna perfect the ending of "Death Becomes Her" so I can live forever.
Before
"I'm not scared of death because of working in health care I was around it so much. I AM scared of what leads to death, however."
Full-Mulberry5020
Why now?
"Why should I be scared now of something that's only going to happen at the end of my life?"
User Deleted
"I did this cult thing called the landmark forum and I actually did like their “meaning of life”: the meaning of life is that there is no meaning. Life is empty and meaningless. There is no answer."
"Life is what you make of it and every persons answer is equally valid because there is no meaning to life. Life exists as, basically, an accident, we are all here by complete accident, there’s no great mystery, it’s all biology and you are 100% free to make life about whatever it is you want."
Conservative_HalfWit
Death and I are good friends...
"I was very sick as a child. Spent ages 7-20 in and out of hospital due to kidney issues. Lost a kidney at 28. Almost died during the surgery to removed the dead kidney due to blood loss. Had 5 surgeries back to back during the next 2 years. Twice they had difficulties bringing me out of anesthesia."
"Found my favorite aunt dead in her bed when I was 22. Watched my best friend die from a brain tumor at 30. Death has been a constant force in my life. Sometimes just on the edges waiting, sometimes unexpected staring me in the face. I'm not afraid because it's always been there. I now work in healthcare. Death and I are good friends."
Tiny_Teach_5466
No Worries
"Because it's coming for us all, sooner or later. So there's no point in worrying about it. I am much more concerned about day to day minutiae. The Lars von Trier film Melancholia starring Kirstin Dunst portrayed this perfectly. If there was an asteroid hurtling towards the earth, I'd probably be more preoccupied with worrying about whether I left the back light on or not."
Giallo_submarine
It's Over
"Because no one has ever made it out alive, and I was dead for an eternity before I was alive, and didn't suffer the slightest inconvenience because of it."
MarshallApplewhiteDo
I never thought about the before much. I hope the before is quick.
The Effects
"I hope that when my times comes it will be merciful. My uncle had a stroke, he is paralyzed. My grandmother is 91, but is losing all her memories of her life. Death does not scare me, what could be left of me before I die is what terrifies me."
M1ssy_M3
No Terror
"It’s like when the writer Nabokov said that he saw a picture one time, a picture of before he was born. It was a picture of his mother, his brother and sister that were older than him, but he had not been born yet. He said that when he saw that picture there was no terror in him, even though he was looking at a picture where he didn’t exist."
im_on-the_can
state of nonexistence...
"I'm not afraid of death, I'm afraid of dying. Death is just the state of nonexistence I experienced before I was born. I don't remember it because I didn't exist yet. Death will be the same way. I just don't want the transition to be marked by pain and sorrow at things left unfinished. I want it to be quick, painless, and with me surrounded by love."
Wazula42
I'm Gone...
"Because once I die, I won't know it. I won't miss people or regret things or feel pain or sadness about anything. I might fear being sick and slowly dying, just having to live with the knowledge that it's all going to end and this is the last time I'll ever see the people I love or taste good food or hear good music. That sounds almost unbearable. But death isn't even a thing, it's just having done something (died)."
"It's like virginity, it's a made-up state of being that just says whether or not you've experienced a specific occurrence. Once I die, I'm gone. My corpse will be the empty wrapper I used to be in, just garbage to be disposed of in whatever way makes my survivors feel better. I'll be switched off. If I don't worry about what the light feels after the bulb burns out, why would I be afraid of being dead?"
SallyHeap
At Peace
"I’m scared now because I have young kids. Once my kids are old enough to be on their own I imagine the fear will subside and I’ll have a more relaxed approach."
User Deleted
Some very interesting perspectives. May it all calm peacefully and with great mercy for us all.
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Dating and the search for love and companionship... What a nightmare.
This journey plays out nothing like in the movies.
Every Prince or Princess (or everything in BTW) seems to have a touch of the psycho.
The things people say during what should be simple dinner conversation can leave a dining partner aghast.
Like... do you hear you?
Redditor detroit_michigldan wanted to discuss all the best ways to crash and burn when trying to make a romantic connection. They asked:
"You're on a date and it's going really great. What can another person say to ruin it completely?"
I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Despite the advancement of technology rendering people left to their own devices–literally–to entertain them, there are some leisurely activities that will never go out of style.
Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"

Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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When we first meet someone–whether through mutual friends, at school, or in a new work setting–we generally feel people out to determine if they're worth getting to know.
While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"

Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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