'AITA for enjoying my high school bully’s karma a little too much?'

"AITA for enjoying my high school bully’s karma a little too much?"

So…AITA for enjoying this, or am I just a girl with pattern recognition? I (29F) had a high school bully — the fake-nice Regina George type. Let’s call her Jocelyn (30F). We met at 15 in a tiny town where drama traveled faster than WiFi.

She loved to pretend she was a friend while actively sabotaging me. Think: inviting me to plan group projects, then publicly changing everything I said so everyone could laugh. Actively pitting peers against me on multiple occasions, spreading rumors and just general nonsense.

After high school, she once spread a rumor that I had threatened her (I hadn’t). I only found out because I started getting random anonymous texts praising or condemning me for things I never did. A little investigating confirmed the rumor came from…shocker…Jocelyn.

Fast forward a few years. I’m home visiting near the end of university, shopping at a store where she worked. Someone mentioned her name and I genuinely said, “Who is Jocelyn?” (I’d forgotten about her existence) She was standing right behind me. Her jaw dropped.

I have dined on that moment for years. Now for the karma arc. According to my best friend Sally 29F (aka my personal town newsletter), Jocelyn’s greatest hits are as follows:

1) Did a "lap" year in high school and dropped out within 3 months (realized all her friends had left & moved on)

2) Dated a 9th grader during her lap year and married him immediately after he graduated

3) Got divorced shortly after (infidelity involved)

4) Is now… a homewrecker

Sally’s married neighbors (with a child) are divorcing because the husband cheated. Guess who he cheated with? Jocelyn. There have been sightings and even a Valentine’s Day post confirming the relationship.

And of course — because the universe has jokes — Jocelyn has been desperately trying to be an influencer for years all while her small business is allegedly failing. Final petty detail: My best friend works at the local Chinese food place. The husband’s takeout account still automatically prints his & his ex-wife’s name on the bag and receipt. Bestie refuses to change it.

So every time Jocelyn orders food with her man, the ex-wife’s name stares back at her. I haven’t commented. I haven’t interacted. I’m living in another country, minding my business. But am I the ahole for quietly enjoying every single second of this? Or is this just…consequences?

Here's what people had to say to OP:

LadyBladeWarAngel said:

I'm going to be totally honest. It's okay to enjoy karma at work. I was born with an eye problem. It's severe. I'm 85% blind. As a child, I had to wear extremely thick bifocals. I was also diagnosed with PCOS at age 10. My metabolism is almost zero because of it. I could live on a diet of celery and still be fat.

I live in the UK, and our doctors basically refuse to help conditions like PCOS unless you want to have kids. So I spent my whole childhood being fat, and wearing glasses so thick that you could compare them to bottle ends. Also I grew up extremely poor, so I basically couldn't make decisions about clothing, as my Mum could only get what she could afford.

My 3 eldest cousins (all girls) were basically considered the pretty ones. They thought it was okay to bully me for wearing clothing that looked terrible, for being fat and wearing giant glasses. This has literally never ended. I have no relationship with these cousins, as I didn't want to be around people who looked down on me.

But karma isn't without some irony. I'm 40, had an eye surgery, whilst not fixing my eye problem, allows me to not wear glasses. I've also managed to lose some weight. I'm definitely not skinny, but I've lost considerable weight. These cousins I'm talking about are 40, 37 and 29.

One of my younger cousins, 25, who I get on with, got married recently. These three cousins turned up. They've all gained weight, wear reading glasses, and were dressed in clothing that made them look terrible.

I'm not going to lie. I found it absolutely hilarious. I don't judge people by how they look or dress, and genuinely wouldn't normally laugh. But the fact they've spent our whole lives mocking the way I look, and now look terrible themselves, is something I find hilariously amusing, because karma is a b.

PurplePlodder1945 said:

I love that Op had genuinely forgotten who she was. Jocelyn probably thought that she filled her brain with what happened, making her miserable. Uh no! Best revenge is putting them behind you and moving on.

0fluffythe0ferocious said:

I mean, we all enjoy watching The Real Housewives series, Vanderpump Rules, Love Island and other trashy Reality TV shows where dramatic hot messes of people make the most bizarre choices. You just happen to know this hot mess.

Organized_Khaos said:

It’s called Schadenfreude, and it’s not only delicious, it’s completely normal to enjoy someone getting their comeuppance. You know, getting back exactly the energy you put out to the world. Definitely enjoy it!

unzunzhepp said:

Jocelyn is continuing her streak of desperate attention seeking, it seems.

Head_Razzmatazz7174 said:

Karma...uh...finds a way. NTA.

Character_Royal_115 said:

NTA, this is just consequences for her own crappy behavior and frankly, it’s hilarious. I also love that you forgot her name and she was stood right behind you. She clearly wanted to pretend to be your friend to pull you down during your teenage years, my guess is she was envious or threatened by you.

Technical_Two_4459 said:

Yes, this is the coffee (better than tea) I needed.

SpaldingPenrodthe3rd said:

NTA it's the little things that bring you joy. Enjoy your karma.