Satisfying Times Good Karma Came For Good People - Part 2

It’s always satisfying to see an awful person get punished by karma. But a rarer source of satisfaction is seeing chance occurrences reward amazingly generous and kind people for their efforts. From heroic race-car drivers to life-changing chihuahuas, let’s get right down to times good karma came for good people.

Uber Kind

In January 2020, a chance meeting in Atlanta, Georgia changed the life of single mother LaTonya Young forever. LaTonya had her first child aged only 16, but that didn’t stop her ambition to pursue a career in criminal justice.

Unfortunately, when she’d very nearly completed her associate’s degree at Georgia State University, the realities of single parenthood forced her to put her education on hold. Despite working as a hairdresser by day and an Uber driver by night to make ends meet, LaTonya simply couldn’t afford to pay to finish her degree.

Unless her monetary situation changed, her dream would have to be forgotten. That is, until LaTonya provided a Uber for a man named Kevin Esch. While driving Esch to his location, the two chatted, and LaTonya recounted the story of her difficult life. When the trip was over, the two parted ways, and LaTonya never expected to see her friendly passenger again.

But a few days later, she received a call from Georgia State, informing her she could register for classes. Confused, LaTonya asked how this was possible when she hadn’t paid. It turned out, her recent passenger had been so touched by her story, he’d paid for her to complete her degree.

When graduation came around, he even attended the ceremony. Kevin Esch’s generous act changed LaTonya’s life forever and brought her one massive step closer to her dreams.

Return of the Ring

For university students in the USA, the tradition of having a personalized ring made to celebrate graduation allows for a constant reminder of their achievements and experiences in college. Losing a class ring, though, would be pretty devastating. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to Catherine Kenyon in 2017.

After searching high and low for her treasured ring, to no avail, she was forced to give up the search. While studying for a PhD at the same college in 2020, however, Catherine made a discovery. In the college parking lot, she found a class ring – sadly not her own – and after some investigation, returned it to the overjoyed owner, who’d lost it four years prior.

A mere two weeks later, a truly bizarre coincidence occurred. Catherine was contacted by someone who had, by chance, found her old ring and tracked her down in the same way she’d done a fortnight before! This kind of college karma really has a ring to it.

Boy Who Donated Piggy Bank For Vandalized Mosque

When you’re a kid, acquiring money can be hard. But that didn’t stop 7-year-old Jack Swanson from saving up $20, mostly in pennies, to put towards an iPad. It took him ages to save, but when Jack heard about vandals defacing a Mosque in his town of Pflugerville, Texas, his savings found a different use.

Without hesitation, Jack offered his full $20 to help restore the Mosque. Word of the gesture spread quickly throughout the American Islamic community, eventually reaching Arsalan Iftikhar, a Muslim lawyer and author.

Brought to tears by Jack’s selfless generosity Iftikhar sent the boy the iPad he’d originally saved for, as a gesture of appreciation. It’s a valuable lesson that we’d all be wise to remember: kindness breeds kindness.

Arsalan Iftikhar

@TheMuslimGuy

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"Boy Who Donated Piggy Bank to VandaliZed Mosque Gets Special Gift from Muslim Community" bit.ly/1PEVSkA

9:15 PM · Nov 20, 2015

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Ryan Newman's NASCAR Standards

After narrowly escaping an awful crash in 2009 with his life, NASCAR driver Ryan Newman relentlessly campaigned for the organization to update its safety standards.

This came to fruition in the years that followed, with the implementation of new rules requiring NASCAR vehicles to include sturdy, reinforced bars above their windows. This would reduce the risk of drivers being crushed in the instance that another car lands on top of theirs, or if the car is flipped upside-down.

Newman was, of course, pleased with the outcome, but he never anticipated how important it would prove to be. In 2013, the sturdy upgrade came into play when a car flipped during a race and landed directly on top of Newman’s.

The added protection may well have been the difference between life and death that day, but it came into play again during another race in February 2020. This time, Newman’s car flipped upside down and was dragged along the track.

Had the roof not been reinforced, it could’ve easily collapsed, crushing Newman to death. Thanks to his efforts to improve safety for his fellow drivers and himself, Ryan Newman may well have saved his future self’s life – twice.

Student Raises Thousands For Homeless Man Who Offered Her His Last £3 For A Taxi

When Dominique Harrison-Bentzen lost her bank card after a night on the town in Preston, England, the prospect of finding a way home with no cash seemed like a daunting, impossible task. But when a homeless man named Robbie noticed her distress, he offered Dominique his last £3 for her to get a taxi home.

It was the only money he had to his name, but to him, the safety of the young woman was more important. Dominique was so touched by the gesture, she started a funding page for the man, whose story soon spread across social media.

Before she knew it, Dominique had raised an astonishing £32,559 for Robbie and the rest of the homeless community in Preston. The money made a huge difference to the lives of countless people living rough in the town, and all came from a humble offer of £3.

Bags Full of Karma

This next story comes from a man who met a woman on a long train journey. She was headed to the same town as he was, for her granddaughter’s birthday. But when they arrived at their destination, the scorching summer heat took its toll on the older woman, and the man noticed her struggling to keep balanced.

Determined not to let her struggle alone, he booked her a cab and rode with her to her daughter’s house, making sure she arrived safely before heading home himself.

3 months passed, and his good deed was all but forgotten to him, until he lost his backpack containing some valuables at an amusement park. With no luck finding it, he was on the verge of giving up when a woman entered the lost-and-found office with her family. They’d found his backpack. As soon as they entered, he was dumbstruck.

He instantly recognized the person holding his bag as the daughter of the woman he’d helped months ago on that hot summer’s day. It seems, when good deeds come naturally to you, karma returns them by the bag-full.

Bus Driver Curtis Jenkins Gets A Wonderful Surprise

Curtis Jenkins is a school bus driver from Texas who understands just how profound a good bit of personal encouragement can be for children. This ethic guides his unique approach to his job, which sees him giving personally-selected presents to the kids who ride his bus, on special occasions like their birthdays.

Curtis firmly believes that matching the right gift to the right pupil can inspire truly positive outcomes. For example, one young girl wrote a short story and shared it with Curtis. In return, he printed the story’s front cover onto a t-shirt for her, in the hope that it’d inspire her to keep writing books.

With thoughtful actions like these, it’s not surprising the kids see him as an inspiring father figure. One kid whose parents divorced even stated he wished his dad could’ve been more like Curtis. The bus driver never sought any reward for his efforts, all of which came out of his own pocket.

But his kindness was returned in 2019, after his story gained national media attention. An anonymous viewer reached out to the school and gifted Curtis with a brand-new car. On top of that, he received a promotion and now teaches others how to have better student relationships. If only every bus driver was like Curtis!

Keys, Cars and Karma

In 2012, Reddit user Pusher91 shared a story of how a chihuahua changed his life in the most unexpected of ways. While driving, he spotted a poster for a lost chihuahua. 20 miles later, the little fella from the poster ran out in front of his car. Narrowly avoiding flattening the pooch, he picked it up and took it to its owner’s house.

The owners cried tears of joy at the return of their furry friend, and Pusher91 felt pretty good about the whole thing too. As he went to pull away, though, his car stalled and wouldn’t restart. The old hunk of junk was dead, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Noticing the flatlining vehicle, the chihuahua’s owners offered a solution. Their daughter had just graduated from college and they were looking to sell her car. In their eyes, their beloved pet was payment enough, and so they gave him the car in return. Who’d have thought chihuahuas would end up being karma’s currency of choice?

The Man for the Job

After a long period of struggling to find work, a fellow by the name of Jimmy – a trained mechanic – finally landed an interview. While waiting at the bus stop on the morning of the interview, Jimmy spotted an elderly man struggling to get his car up and running.

Though he didn’t have much time before his interview, Jimmy couldn’t bear to watch the older man struggle, and so offered to help. After fixing the car up, the old man was overjoyed; he offered Jimmy payment, which he refused.

Keen to repay Jimmy’s kindness in some way, the old man offered to drive him to his interview. Seeing as he was running late, Jimmy accepted. The old man dropped him off, and with a slightly odd, knowing smile, drove off. Walking into his interview, Jimmy felt a little self-conscious. His hands were still a little dirty from fixing the car, and the only suit he could afford wasn’t as well-fitting as the other candidates.

But none of that mattered in the slightest when he entered the office for his interview. Because who was sitting there, waiting for him, but the general manager of the company; the very man whose car he’d just repaired. With his strength of character already demonstrated, he was hired on the spot.

Trashtag Treasure

Cleaning up litter-laden natural areas can be a thankless task, and as is the nature of volunteering, doesn’t tend to pay in a monetary sense.

But for Redditor Mortys_mind_blowers, who was inspired to clean their local beach after the #trashtag trend of 2019, the pay-out was as financial as it was emotionally rewarding. They found this Australian $50 note among the litter on the beach, which made a difficult yet meaningful morning’s work just a teensy bit better.

via Reddit

Bikers Line Up At Girl's Lemonade Stand

When several members of the Milwaukee Irons motorcycle club were involved in an accident in Chili, Indiana, Daryn Sturch (an off-duty nurse) didn’t hesitate in pulling over to help. With the assistance of her young daughter, she made sure the bikers were safe and relatively comfortable while emergency services were on their way.

They never forgot Daryn’s help and stayed in touch with her on Facebook. A year later, when the bikers saw a post from Daryn showing her daughter’s lemonade stand, they knew exactly what to do.

To the amazement of both Daryn and her daughter, an enclave of more than 30 leather-clad motorcyclists turned up to the lemonade stand, creating a spectacle that made international news. With their bikes parked nearby, they fueled up on fresh lemonade, making Daryn’s daughter’s day, and returning Daryn’s help in a way she’d never forget.

Man Donates To Homeless Man, Then Wins Lottery

Usually, on the occasion we give money to the homeless, we don’t expect anything in return, except maybe a warm, fuzzy feeling. But when Brandon Sedin gave a few dollars to a homeless man at a mall in Boise, Idaho, his return on investment was colossal, and almost instantaneous.

After his donation, he headed into a food store, where his eye was caught by some scratch-n-win lottery tickets. Though he rarely bought lottery tickets, for some reason the urge seized Brandon on that afternoon, and he picked some up.

Expecting little, he scratched away, and was shocked to discover he’d won the store’s top prize of $200,000! Usually, good karma can’t be cashed in quite so literally, but after this, Brandon Sedin will probably give to the homeless more often. Who knows, maybe it’ll happen again?