Guy Fails To Check Powerball Ticket, Spends Six Weeks Clueless To The Fact That He’s A Millionaire

There are some problems we all wish we could have, and finding out you’ve been needlessly spending your days as a normal person only to learn you’re actually a millionaire is certainly one of them. A New York man thought the Powerball winner had already been found, when in fact, he had the winning ticket worth $136 million tacked up in his basement behind a pipe for six weeks.

The 56-year-old plumber matched all six numbers for the March 14 Powerball jackpot, playing numbers he’s used before but that he says don’t have any specific meaning, reports WABC-TV.

He blames the delay between the drawing and when he realized he was a multimillionaire on a simple conversation with a friend, a few days after the numbers were pulled.

She told him the winning ticket was bought at a store nearby, and he said, “That’s where I bought my ticket.”

But she added that she heard it was a school teacher who won, so he figured it wasn’t his lucky day. Except that it was, which is amazing.

“When I saw all the numbers matched up, I panicked,” he said. “I immediately called my son and asked him to come over right away.”

His son confirmed the numbers matched up, checking them on his phone.

The winner says on the way to claim his reward, he called up that friend who’d mentioned the teacher winning.

“I called her and said, ‘You just made me wait six weeks to become a millionaire.’ We both had a big laugh about it,” he said.

He’s treating his son to part of the winnings, amounting to $38.6 million for him and $16.5 million for his lucky offspring. Although he’s now super rich and could probably spend the rest of his days floating in a money bath, he says he’s going to continue working as a plumber.

“I honestly don’t know what my plans are right now,” he said. “I want to continue to work, but will be able to relax a little more and not have any worries financially.”

STATEN ISLAND PLUMBER WINS $136 MILLION POWERBALL, LEAVES TICKET PINNED TO WALL FOR 6 WEEKS [WABC]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.