Man spent 15 years getting the best revenge on high school bully. But then karma joins forces with irony: ‘I might have helped end his marriage’

They say revenge is a dish best served cold. That certainly seems to be the MO of Reddit‘s r/traumatizethemback, in which users post their stories of petty vengeance against those who’ve wronged them.

But, even among these tales of satisfying payback, user Best-Pirate5073’s stands out. He details a “petty revenge” years in the making, the seeds of which were planted throughout high school.

He explains that he was the only Black kid in his school, and was targeted by “Jake” (not his real name), a “rich white kid who at my school who seemed to make it his mission to break me for no gah damn reason at all.”

He says this involved “daily racial slurs”, false rumors that he was violent or did heavy drugs, the sabotage of his group projects, and “ruining my first real relationship”. Apparently, “Jake” got away with this because “his family funded sports and were on the school board”.

But, like most bullies, he was soon a footnote in the OP’s life. He says he went on to become a “well-known massage therapist”, as well as working out five days a week, and strived not to be someone that people can easily walk over.

“I kept my face neutral and said nothing…”

Then, years later, he meets “Sarah” at a gym class. The two become “loose gym friends”, but he notices she has a “sad vibe”. He probes a little closer and realizes the source of her woes is her husband. You guessed it, it’s Jake: “this guy was bloated, looked stressed AF, had a receding hairline and looking nothing like the cocky a-hole I remembered. I kept my face neutral and said nothing…”

Sarah’s complaints continued, and the user began telling her reassuring and supportive advice like “You deserve to feel safe at home” and “Constant stress like this is not sustainable.” The OP then advised she speak to a therapist and referred her to one.

You can probably see where this is going: “Last month she told me she had filed for divorce. She hugged me and said my perspective helped her find courage. Jake is apparently shocked and spiraling.”

“Fifteen years of carrying what he did to me as the only Black kid finally caught up to him. Then becoming the guy his wife confides in. Part of me feels cold satisfaction. The bigger part feels gross and empty. Was I any better than him in the end? Did I waste half my adult life mentally keeping score against someone who might not even remember me? Probably not.”

As always, you can be the judge of whether you find a tale spun by a random Redditor plausible or not. Maybe this all really happened, maybe it’s a fantasy he wishes would happen, or maybe it’s entirely fiction.

Either way, stories like this are a reminder of “what goes around, comes around”. If you victimize and bully someone, those bad vibes could echo back on you in ways you might not ever realize until it’s far too late.