So, this whole ‘what goes around comes around’ thing. You hear it all the time, right? Is it actually legit? I’ve spent a fair bit of time just watching things play out, seeing if it really holds water. Sometimes I reckon it’s just something people say to feel better when someone’s done them wrong. Like, you’re hoping the universe has got your back and will deliver a bit of payback.
But then, you see stuff happen, and it makes you think. I’ve got a story that always pops into my head when this topic comes up. It’s not about thunderbolts from the sky or anything dramatic, just… well, you’ll see.
I used to work with this fella, let’s call him Mark. This was a few jobs ago. Mark was, how do I put it, a real operator. Always looking out for number one, which, okay, fair enough to a degree. But his way of doing it was by subtly (or not so subtly) shifting blame, taking credit for group efforts, and just generally making things a tad more difficult for everyone else if it meant he looked good or got an easier ride. He wasn’t a monster, just had this knack for always coming out smelling like roses while someone else was stuck cleaning up the mess.
I remember one time, there was this big project. We were all burning the midnight oil. Mark, he found a way to make his bit look super complicated and important, when really, he’d offloaded a ton of the tricky parts onto a newer, quieter colleague. Then, when presentation time came, guess who was front and center, soaking up the praise? Yep, Mark. The colleague who did the heavy lifting just got a pat on the back, if that. We all saw it. We all knew. But Mark, he just smiled that charming smile of his.
So, what happened? Did lightning strike him? Nope. Life just sort of… unfolded. Mark eventually left that company for what he thought was a much better gig. More money, fancier title, the works. I heard about it through the grapevine. Apparently, he tried to pull the same stunts there. You know, charming the bosses, finding ways to make others carry his weight.
But here’s the kicker. This new place, the team was smaller, tighter. And the boss there? She was sharp. Really sharp. She’d come up through the ranks and had seen all the tricks. Mark tried his usual routine during a critical phase of a new product launch. He tried to pin a significant oversight on a junior team member, someone he probably thought wouldn’t fight back.
This is where it got interesting. That junior person, though quiet, was meticulous. Had emails. Had notes. Showed the boss exactly how Mark had given him the wrong information and then tried to cover it up. It wasn’t a big dramatic showdown. It was just… facts. Mark couldn’t talk his way out of it. He couldn’t charm his way out of it. The boss saw right through him.
He didn’t get fired on the spot, nothing like that. But his reputation in that new place was shot. Nobody trusted him. He got sidelined. The ‘easy ride’ he was always looking for just vanished. Last I heard, he wasn’t there anymore. Moved on again, probably looking for a place where his old tricks might still work.
So, did what went around, come around? I think so. Not in a magical way. But his actions, his way of treating people, his way of working – it just created a pattern. And eventually, that pattern bumped up against a situation, or people, that wouldn’t tolerate it. He basically sowed a bunch of bad seeds, and eventually, that’s the crop he harvested. It wasn’t karma police knocking on his door; it was just the natural consequence of how he chose to operate. People talk. Reputations follow you. And if you consistently act in a way that undermines others, eventually, you run out of people willing to help you, or you end up in a place where that behavior just doesn’t fly.
So yeah, I’ve seen enough little things like that, and big things too, to believe there’s something to it. Maybe it’s not always instant, and maybe it’s not always obvious, but if you keep putting certain things out into the world, they have a funny way of finding their way back to you. It’s less about cosmic justice and more about plain old cause and effect, I reckon. You just gotta pay attention to see it happen.
