Bored Panda has rounded up stories about karma making sure people got what they deserved instantly, and the list reads like a compendium of cosmic justice delivered in real time. From a woman whose baby vomited down an expensive stranger’s jacket to a man who walked into a glass sliding door, each tale is framed as proof that karma is real.
The stories are drawn from user comments, a lightly edited collection of anecdotes. The common thread is instant retribution: the moment a rude person’s actions come back to bite them, often in front of witnesses.
The Baby Vomited Story
One of the most memorable entries comes from India. A woman in an expensive coat got on a bus and saw another passenger burping her baby. She walked up, took the baby, and demonstrated the proper technique — only to have the baby vomit down the back of her jacket.
The story captures the perfect mix of schadenfreude and justice. The woman who criticized the mother’s parenting skills got exactly what she deserved.
The Glass Door Incident
Another tale involves a woman at work who walked around with her nose in the air and was rude to the women. She treated the men with deference. One night, she walked into a glass sliding door at a coworker’s apartment party. The narrator describes the sound as a loud “boooong.”
The woman was humbled in front of a room full of people she had been showing off to. The narrator, who identifies as a girl’s girl, still found satisfaction in seeing her brought down a peg.
The Traffic Jerk Gets Pulled Over
Several stories involve drivers getting caught by authorities for their bad behavior. In one, a man on a Friday afternoon offramp in Brisbane watched as a state patrol cruiser pulled up behind a truck driver who was verbally attacking an unhoused woman. The officer, described as “THE most ripped woman I think I’d ever seen,” slowly walked toward the truck driver while holding her baton.
The slow, deliberate approach was described as “glorious.” The truck driver was backed up by traffic, afraid, and not relenting — and the officer made sure he knew exactly what he had done.
The Dine-and-Dash Payback
A couple decided to dine-and-dash after ordering food and drinks at a restaurant. The man dropped his phone by the table, and the server found it before he could return. He had to go inside, pay, and face the embarrassment.
The story is a classic example of karma working through inconvenience rather than violence. The couple got caught, and the man had to pay both the bill and the social cost of being seen returning to the restaurant.
The Survey Behind the Stories
The list also includes a note about karma’s psychological appeal. According to a survey published by the American Psychological Association, a large majority of participants say they’ve been rewarded with good karma for their positive actions before. The survey also found that most people have witnessed karma striking down cheating partners, indebted friends, bullies, and terrible coworkers.
The survey suggests that most people believe in karma’s existence, even if they don’t often get to see it play out. The stories on the list, the site argues, may lead readers to believe that there is something to it.
Why People Share These Stories
The stories are fun to read, but they are not evidence of karma’s existence. They are anecdotes, selected for their amusement value, not for their scientific rigor.
The attribution bias point is worth considering. When something bad happens to you, you are more likely to blame bad luck than to believe it was karma punishing you for something you did wrong. The same bias applies to others — when someone else suffers, it’s easier to see it as karma at work.
The stories are entertaining, and they are harmless fun. But they are not proof of anything beyond human nature’s love of a good comeback.
Key Facts Box
- Survey: Participants rewarded by good karma for positive actions
- Survey: Witnesses karma striking down cheating partners, indebted friends, bullies, and terrible coworkers
The list is a reminder that people love stories about cosmic justice. Whether karma is real or not, the stories themselves are worth reading — if only for a few minutes of schadenfreude.