This time, I was heading to a big conference in LA, with a super tight connection to San Diego for a pre-conference meeting. Everything was scheduled down to the minute, and I really couldn’t afford any delays.

I had everything planned out perfectly, even picking an aisle seat for a quick getaway. As I got to my row, I noticed the guy in the window seat was already settled in.

He looked like he was in his early 40s, radiating a kind of self-importance that was hard to ignore. He was dressed in a neatly pressed button-down, nice slacks, and shiny shoes. He kept checking his expensive watch, like he had someplace more important to be, and barely glanced up when I sat down.

No big deal, I thought. All I wanted was a quiet flight and maybe a few minutes to go over my notes for the San Diego meeting. Little did I know, this guy was about to turn my simple trip into a mini-nightmare.

Halfway through the flight, the attendants started serving dinner. I hadn’t eaten all day because I’d been so focused on prepping for the conference. By the time the meal service began, I was absolutely starving.

As soon as I smelled the food, my stomach growled, reminding me just how hungry I was. I couldn’t wait to eat, go over my notes, and maybe even sneak in a quick nap before landing.

But then nature called. I glanced down the aisle, hoping the food cart was still a few rows away. It was, so I figured I had just enough time for a quick restroom break. I excused myself, trying not to bother Mr. Important too much, and made my way to the back of the plane.

When I got to the restroom, I saw a line. Great, just what I needed! I checked my watch anxiously as the minutes ticked by, but the line barely moved. By the time it was finally my turn, I was practically tapping my foot with impatience. I knew the meal service had started, and I didn’t want to miss it.

When I finally made it back to my seat, I couldn’t believe what I saw: my meal tray was gone! And the guy next to me was sitting there, happily digging into his second meal!

“Uh, did they bring my meal while I was gone?” I asked, even though the answer was painfully obvious.

He looked up from his tray, a smug smile spreading across his face. “Oh, yeah. You were taking a while, so I figured you didn’t want it. Didn’t want it to go to waste.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. “You ate my meal?”

“Yeah,” he said, still chewing. “I was still hungry after mine, and you weren’t here. You can just grab something at the airport when we land.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I’d dealt with entitled people before, but this was on a whole new level. I stood there for a moment, completely speechless. Who does that?

“Are you serious right now?” I asked, mostly to myself, still hoping this was some kind of bizarre joke.

He just shrugged, totally unfazed. “Relax, it’s just airplane food.”

Feeling a mix of anger and disbelief, I hit the call button and asked the flight attendant if there were any meals left. She gave me an apologetic smile and said, “I’m so sorry, but we’ve run out of meals. Would you like some pretzels instead?”

Pretzels? That wasn’t exactly going to cut it, but what could I do? I took the tiny bag of pretzels, feeling defeated and increasingly annoyed at my seatmate’s sheer audacity.

Meanwhile, Mr. Important finished off both meals, leaned back in his seat, and promptly fell asleep, looking as satisfied as a cat that had just caught a mouse.

I tried to focus on my work, nibbling on the pretzels and glaring at the man, now softly snoring beside me. My stomach growled in protest, but I forced myself to concentrate on my notes.

I reminded myself that I had a tight connection to worry about and couldn’t afford to let this jerk ruin my day. I kept checking my watch, counting down the minutes until we landed.

As we started our descent into LA, the flight attendants made the usual announcements about landing and connecting flights. The reminder about tight connections snapped me out of my frustration and back into work mode. I glanced over at my seatmate. He was still out cold, completely oblivious to the world.

The plane touched down, and as soon as it did, I grabbed my bag, ready to dash to my next gate. But just as I stood up, I heard a flight attendant make an important announcement: “Attention, passengers connecting to San Diego. There’s been a last-minute gate change. You’ll need to head to Terminal 4, Gate 45, as quickly as possible.”

Great, I thought. Just what I needed—a gate change. I turned to leave when I glanced at Mr. Important, still snoring away. I actually debated whether to wake him up. I mean, sure, he’d eaten my meal and been a complete jerk, but did that mean I should just leave him to miss his connection?

As I reached for my bag in the overhead bin, I decided to give him a light nudge. “Hey, we’ve landed,” I said quietly, not wanting to disturb anyone else.

Nothing. He didn’t even stir.

I nudged him a bit harder. “You might want to wake up; we’ve landed, and there’s a gate change.”

This time, he mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep and turned his head the other way, clearly not ready to wake up. I figured the commotion of people getting off the plane would eventually wake him up, and besides, I had to get to my next gate.

I couldn’t afford to miss my flight. So, I left him there, still fast asleep, and hurried off the plane.

The terminal was packed with people, and I had to weave through the crowd to reach my new gate. By the time I got there, they were already boarding. I made it just in time, and as I settled into my seat, I finally felt a wave of relief. I was on my way to San Diego, and for the first time that day, I had a moment to breathe.

It wasn’t until I arrived in San Diego and met up with my colleagues that I got the full story. As we were chatting about our flights, one of my coworkers, Lisa, mentioned that she had seen someone who sounded very familiar.

“I swear, there was this guy at LAX who looked like he’d just woken up from a coma,” Lisa said, laughing. “He was stumbling off the plane, looking completely disoriented. I overheard him arguing with a gate agent because he missed his connection. Apparently, he was asleep when they announced the gate change, and by the time he woke up, it was too late.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “What did he look like?”

Lisa described him — a man in his early 40s, wearing a slightly wrinkled button-down shirt, slacks, and polished shoes, with an expensive watch that he kept checking as he argued with the gate agent. His hair was a mess, and he looked both frazzled and furious.

There was no doubt in my mind — it was him.

“Oh, that guy!” I said, unable to hide the satisfaction in my voice. “Yeah, he was sitting next to me. Can you believe he ate my meal while I was in the restroom and then fell asleep? I tried to wake him up, but he didn’t budge.”

Lisa’s eyes widened. “No way! That’s karma in action right there.”

I couldn’t agree more. As much as I’d been frustrated by the whole ordeal, there was something deeply satisfying about knowing that karma had stepped in. While I made it to my meeting on time, Mr. Important was stuck in LA, missing his connections and probably regretting his decision to indulge in both meals.

Sometimes, what goes around really does come around. And in this case, karma didn’t let it slide.

If you enjoyed this story, here’s another about an arrogant passenger who disturbed a teenage boy’s peace by reclining his seat right into his face.

Read the full story here.

This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.