ScarcelyAware

A few days ago, I was riding along, minding my own, when out of the blue a small red handball flew across my path, 100 feet in front. It had come from an elementary school to my right and the kids behind the fence didn't look too happy. The ball rolled into the middle of the 3 lane street and bounced around under the tires of some cars (tough ball) until it finally rolled back onto the sidewalk. I stopped, picked up the ball, rode up the block, and returned the ball to the kids, who greeted me with a "Thanks Mister!" Never had I made so many kids smile.

I remount my bike and ride down the street feeling really good about myself.

2 blocks later...

PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST

My back tire flats.

I had no tools, patches, or spares on me and had to wait an hour for a friend to pick me up. To make matters worse, they had no sense of direction and refused to pick me up unless I walked the 5 blocks to the nearest shopping mall (in CLEATS)

Next time, I'll just mind my own business.

Caad 8

lol, you're blaming your flat on the little kids?

Kai Winters

LOL blaming little kids and doing an act of kindness for a flat.
More like your unpreparedness is the reason...and yes karma did get you for your lack of being prepared not the act of kindness.

gabdy

Your first mistake was thinking karma actually existed.

RickB.

"My back tire flats.

I had no tools, patches, or spares on me"

The Karma came from the bike, not the kids or the ball...

NickDavid

Too bad there's no such thing as karma, but I know the feeling. I guess you just have to laugh at times like these.

MSchott

The mistake is thinking there is instant karma. That's not how it works.

55/Rad

I see it this way...if you hadn't returned the ball, you would have gotten 2 flats and broken your chain.

See, Karma did help.

55/Rad

DataJunkie

Yup. No such thing as instant karma. You have to purchase it.
Now if you had given each kid $10...

substructure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kair0wOXGtY

Instant Karma.

Retro Grouch 

So how do you know?

Perhaps if the OP hadn't retrieved the ball he would have had the flat four blocks later in the middle of a crowded intersection and been run over by a bus.

MONGO!

If you were riding further than you can walk without a spare tube/tools and the know how to use them, then it sounds like karma was working perfectly well.

Tsuru

You obviously did something to piss off the cycling gods, but helping the little kids wasn't it. I teased my buddy for all the mechanical issues he was having on his fancy bikes, then I got 3 flats in a row, 3 weeks later on MY fancy bike, 3 flats again... Even bike mechanics couldn't figure it out.

I apologized to the gods and to my buddy, no flats since.

*edit - re-reading your original post, by not carrying proper spares & equipment, you were mocking the cycling gods, hence the flat.

Cone Wrench

I think your karma ran over your dogma.

shmily_dana

Think about it this way. Maybe you just missed the drunk guy who threw the bear bottle out of his car window by a few seconds.

cyclefreaksix

I don't leave the house on my bike without the proper tools/spare to fix it. But hey, that's just me being a responsible person with enough forethought to realize that sometimes things break/flat.

Sounds like Karma did it's job.

Hot Potato

Kharma was planning on a high speed deflation on the biggest hill in your area, then decided to go easy on you. Be grateful.

Reynolds 

Life is not fair. Look what happened to that poor guy who had a flat and nobody stopped to help him.

Metzinger

I think you're a bit confused as to the meaning of Karma...

ScarcelyAware

LOL.

To the rest, I was simply referring to the "goes around comes around" aspect of karma. No need to get religious.

I now bring my levers and tube wherever I go. Lesson learned.

DScott

'Luck favors the prepared mind'

~ Louis Pasteur

grafik1979

That was the kids' turn to return the favor. Jeez.