Karma's got her own timetable.

There is often an extra step required for me in retail transactions. This means that unsuspecting people queued up behind me sometimes have to wait an extra few minutes to be rung through.

The other day, after I'd been waiting in a long line-up, a second cash register opened, so I told the woman behind me that she might want to go to the other line since my transaction takes an extra minute. (And, ironically, becaUse it often requires making a photocopy, the busier a store is, the longer it usually takes!) So, I told the man standing behind her, as well. They both said "Thanks for the heads-up!"

The man behind them, though, said to me, "Well, do you mind if I just go ahead of you, then?"

I said, apologetically, "Oh, I'm sorry but I've been waiting in line for about ten minutes and and I am actually running late to meet some friends..." (Not to mention that if I didn't mind just letting people go, I would have told the other two people to go ahead of me, wouldn't I? And then where would it end, especially in the Christmas rush!?)

This prompted him to snort, and say, in a very nasty way, "That's okay. Karma has a way of coming around."

What I didn't say, but I should have said was "Yeah, I agree. So besides me, who were you a jerk to, today?"