Karma or God's Sense of Humor?

According to Dictionary.com Karma is defined as an "action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in reincarnation." So with that said I have a story for you. I believe it falls under Karma but the more I think about it I think some of the parts within the story might have been God's way of joking with me. I mean...isn't that what Karma is in a way? If you think about it, you have a situation that requires a decision. If the decision brings forth something bad it is immediately thought of as bad Karma. But what if the bad Karma is a look at God's sense of humor? Now, this only works if you believe in God, which I do but if you don't then it's Karma or simply bad luck. All in all it's something unseen that we feel has some sort of impact on our decisions in life whether the result is good or bad. So here's the story and it's not one that everyone knows but it's about time I wrote about it. Years ago I purchased a car with my ex. When things went sour she kept the car. Now, I'm not going to go into deep detail but let's just say that an opportunity came up for me to take over payments. A sum of money was paid to the bank by myself, yet there was still a small dispute over the car. I had called the police to state my case and they told me that they could not help me but that I would have to take her to court or simply go and retrieve it myself. We were both on the title so if I went to go get it I wasn't doing anything wrong. It would not be illegal for me to go and get my own car. I now know this years later because of where I work but back then I was clueless. So in a way the police department I spoke to was helping me out. If I had gone with an officer to retrieve my car he would have only stood by while I asked my ex for it. If she had refused there would be nothing the officer could do because it was a civil matter. He would only be there to keep the peace since nothing criminal was going on.

So my dilema was working at a factory and having no transportation. I desperately needed this car from my ex and I remembered the officer saying that I wouldn't get into trouble if I went to get the car myself since it was half mine. After a while of going back and forth, I had made my decision. I would head over to where she was living and get my car back but...I had no key. So what was I to do? Well, after a few conversations with the bank they revealed that I could head out to any locksmith, present my title, and get a new key made. It was that easy and I would have never thought to do that or that a locksmith would even cut me a key without having one on me in the first place as proof that I was the owner. It's kind of scary if you think about it. Anyone with a copy or stolen title could walk into a locksmith, get a key for a vehicle and possibly steal it. Not a good thought at all but this is what I did and per the police department I spoke to, this was not stealing. So everything was set. I now had a key to the car, I had a ride to get it but something was missing. Oh yeah, it was the nerve to actually go and do it.

It's funny that as I type this and reflect on the whole situation, I feel as nervous as I did when I went to get the car. I believe it was on a Saturday night when I went to get it and whole way there my friend Adam and my brother Nando were heckling me that I wouldn't do it and that this was just a waste of time. I kept telling them that I really needed the car for work and that we would be leaving in separate cars. All they could do was laugh at me. I remember rounding the corner to my ex's home and I began to sweat. My stomach was in knots and I swear to all that is holy that if anyone would have nudged me in the stomach I probably would have messed myself. On top of that I had been joking the whole way there that with my luck there would be no gas in the car. We all had a good laugh about that but it would never happen. I mean, what are the actual odds of something like that happening anyway? As we pulled up I could see the vehicle in the carport. We pulled up to the side of the complex and I took a deep breath.

"Well...here goes nothing."

"Dude you're not going to do it", Adam responded.

"I need that car for work bro!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

I grabbed the key, got out of the car, and walked towards my vehicle. My nerves were shot and my walk was crooked. I was so nervous that my body was shaking and anyone looking at me would have thought I was intoxicated because I was walking in such a crooked manner. I might have gone through a seizure as well but I don't remember for sure. I just know that I was out of it, my anxiety and asthma were haywire and I was about to take my car back. I walked up to the car and I noticed the doors were unlocked. I thought this was odd since the area was somewhat bad but what was worse was that there was a set of keys sitting out in the open. Someone could have easily taken the car before I got there though, I figured it was meant to be that I made it there at 3am before anyone else. So, I opened the door and got in like nothing, started it, pulled out and once I passed the complex I hauled butt. As I headed to the exit I saw lights flip on and for a moment my heart stopped. I thought it was a cop and I about wet myself but it was my friend and my brother. I headed to the exit of the sub division and when I got to the stop sign I looked down and noticed something. I had gone from complete triumph mode to scared and upset mode. Remember my jokes about having no gas? What are the freaking odds of that happening!? My ex lived pretty close to the highway and I had planned to travel a few miles to it and book it home but I had no gas. Instead I had to go the opposite direction to get gas from Meijer.

I took off to get gas and the whole way I was praying to God that I wouldn't get caught. I don't even know why I was so scared. The police told me that what I was doing wasn't illegal so why was I freaking out? I could see my friend in back of me and we were both speeding to the gas station. I pulled in and for whatever reason the world decided it would be a great time to get some gas. This was a big deal because I was in a hurry and I don't know if you have ever put gas in after midnight at Meijer but during that time the station is closed off and you have to pay outside at the window. So here I am at the end of a long line and I'm jumping around doing the pee-pee dance. It felt like I head been there for hours before I finally made it up to the window.

"You need gas?"

"No I need to pee really bad, of course I need gas!"

"What?"

"Here's a ten sir."

I ran back to my car and began to pump. My friend and brother were laughing at me because I jinxed myself by joking about not having gas and as I flipped them off the pump stopped. I looked at the price and it had stopped at $7. It turned out that the car was not on empty. Whatever it is that controls the line that marks how much gas there is was broken. I was manic by then and all I could do was laugh. I hopped in my car and took off once again. I left without my change but I suppose the cashier deserved a little something since I was somewhat rude. Once I got out of Holland I hit the backroads. The rest of the way home was a blur because I hit hyper speed. I mean...well...I guess it wasn't that fast but I swear I could see the lines pass me like in Star Wars when they're hauling ass through space. When I finally got home I almost needed someone to pry my hands from the steering wheel because I had been white-knuckling it the whole way home. When my friend and brother finally caught up to me they told me that they couldn't believe I actually did it.

The next morning I got a phone call from Holland PD. I was told that I was a person of interest in the disappearance of a car. I explained the situation and the officer told me to go no further. She understood it was a civil matter and even shared a laugh with me. In the end the situation turned in my favor but in the middle of the whole thing Karma was messing with me. Well, it was either Karma or God's sense of humor. Whatever it was, it created a grand adventure and story to be told. What made it even more funny was when I applied at my first dispatching job in Florida. The Chief and Lieutenant asked if I had any skeletons in my closet. I chuckled at first and responded with,

"I stole a car once."

Their reaction was priceless. So what do you think? Karma or God's sense of humor?