WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A "nagging" wife who pushed her husband to buy a lottery ticket helped win the $4.2 million ($7.7 million New Zealand dollar) first prize — with only minutes to spare.
The man from New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland, bought his ticket just two minutes before ticket sales closed Saturday night.
"My wife had been nagging me all week to get a ticket, so I when saw the Lotto sign ... I sprinted in to get the ticket before they closed," said the man, who asked not to be identified - normal practice among lottery winners in New Zealand .
"I must have been their last customer of the night," he said, adding that the young married couple had had a "rough" couple of years, reduced to one income after having children.
"I have never been so glad to listen to my wife's nagging," the man said Tuesday.
He discovered their newly won fortune Sunday thanks to his wife's request for a barbecued sausage.
Out shopping for bargains, the man said he didn't have enough money to buy his wife the sausage she'd asked him for. So he decided to check his Saturday lottery ticket in case he'd won a small prize.
"I could not believe it when they said I was actually the big winner," he said.
When he showed the printout to his wife, she initially thought they had won $4,200 (NZ$7,700).
"When she realized how much it really was, she fell to the floor, and then said: 'but all I wanted was a sausage.'"
Hilarious story!
They sound like cool people.
It is nice that some places have more sensible policies about remaining anonymous.
You see? This is why we nag...lol
Best of luck to them for the future
POOR GUY! He's never going to hear the end of this from his wife....LOL
Thank GOD^^^^^^^^^^^^^!!!!!!!!
for the AMERICAN WOMAN!!
Psykomo LUV's them "ALL"!!!!!!
Now I'm hungry for barbecued sausage! Congrats to the winners!
I bet he's happy that his wife kept nagging him to buy a ticket!
Now he will have to listen and act on her nagging for life.
Well like they say you have to be "In it 2 win it!" I am glad he was able to make it to the store in time for the drawing. Remember the poor bloke in Canada who purchased his ticket at the last minute which were valid for Saturday's drawing only to have his numbers hit for the Wednsday drawing? I am sure that will haunt that guy for the rest of his life. If he never hits the jackpot, he will always think about the ONE that got away! So remember if your wife, husband, or significant other nags you to get a ticket, you should pick up a ticket and make sure the you give yourself plenty of time to purchase it.
Just think - had she been getting more sausage, she'd have done less nagging.