New Brunswick — A new study from Statistics Atlantic has a found that over the course of an average lifespan, New Brunswickers can expect to spend roughly 14 years waiting for people to purchase lottery tickets at various locations where these items are sold.
The study, conducted during the months of October and November, surveyed 1,876 individuals between the ages of 18 and 86, and found that from those questioned, an average of 4 to 6 hours per day were reportedly spent waiting in lines, with people buying lottery tickets being the primary reason for the extended amount of time spent there.
“Gas stations and corner stores tend to be places people frequent on a daily basis,” said Linda Jackson, spokesperson for Statistics Atlantic, “either for gasoline, coffee, food items — any number of things. We also found that these places are ever-present with people by the droves tediously making various transactions involving, of course, lottery tickets.”
Adding: “They check their hundreds of losing tickets, cash in on their winning ones, and then, in a reliable and painfully slow fashion, proceed to purchase hundreds upon hundreds more.”
The recent big lottery win in Fredericton’s north side has only made wait times worse all over the province. Greg Simmons, who’s been waiting to pay for gas at a Moncton Petro-Can for over 3 hours so far, and is currently still behind a near 2 dozen people (each one with thick wads of 649 tickets, scratch cards and break-opens firmly in hand) said the long waits are simply a part of being a New Brunswicker, and that he always makes sure to plan around the inconvenience. “If I know I need to fuel up before work,” he said, “I always make sure to get here at least 7 hours before my shift.”
Of the things New Brunswickers will spend the majority of their lives doing, the new findings put waiting for people buying lottery tickets second only to sleeping and working.