I stared in disbelief. He had eaten my meal without a second thought. “You ate my meal?” I asked, hoping it was some kind of joke.
“Relax, it’s just airplane food,” he shrugged, continuing to eat.
I called over the flight attendant to see if there were any meals left, but unfortunately, they had run out. All they had left was a small bag of pretzels, which I reluctantly accepted, trying to calm my frustration. Meanwhile, my seatmate finished both meals and promptly fell asleep, leaving me fuming as I munched on pretzels and tried to focus on my work.
As the plane began its descent into LA, I prepared for my tight connection. That’s when I heard an announcement that there had been a gate change for my connecting flight to San Diego. I glanced at the man beside me, still snoring away, and debated whether or not to wake him. After all, he had eaten my meal and been completely inconsiderate. But in the end, I gave him a nudge. “We’ve landed, and there’s a gate change,” I said softly.
He mumbled something, turned over, and continued sleeping. I decided not to waste any more time. I grabbed my bag and rushed off the plane to make my connection.
I made it to my new gate just in time and felt a sense of relief as I boarded my flight to San Diego. When I arrived and met up with my colleagues, one of them, Lisa, mentioned seeing a man at the airport who seemed completely frazzled and frustrated after missing his connection.
She described him: slightly disheveled, in a wrinkled button-down, arguing with the gate agent. It didn’t take long for me to realize she was describing none other than Mr. Important from my flight.
“Karma,” Lisa said with a laugh. “Sounds like he got what was coming.”
I smiled, feeling a sense of satisfaction. While the ordeal had been frustrating, there was something sweet about the way it ended. It’s true what they say—sometimes, karma has a funny way of working things out.