A routine flight from New York to Los Angeles turned unexpectedly frustrating for a business traveler when the passenger next to her ate her in-flight meal while she stepped away to use the restroom. Expecting a smooth trip before a tight connection to San Diego, the woman returned to her seat only to find the man who had already eaten his own meal happily finishing hers. When she confronted him, he casually dismissed it, saying she “took too long” and he “didn’t want it to go to waste.”

Frustrated and hungry, the woman alerted a flight attendant, only to be told that there were no meals left just a small bag of pretzels. Meanwhile, the man leaned back, full and smug, and promptly fell asleep. As the plane landed, an urgent gate change for the San Diego connection was announced. The woman debated whether to wake her seatmate but ultimately decided to let him sleep, focusing instead on making her connection.

Later in San Diego, while catching up with colleagues, one of them recounted seeing a disoriented man at LAX arguing with a gate agent after missing his flight. As she described his appearance, the woman realized with quiet satisfaction that it was the same man who had eaten her meal.

Turns out, while he was sleeping through the gate announcement, karma had been wide awake. Though the woman didn’t get her dinner, she got something even more satisfying a little justice served at 30,000 feet. Sometimes, karma doesn’t need your help; it just needs a little altitude.