Some folks say that patience is a virtue or that good things come to those who wait. Instant gratification isn’t something you should expect and may not even be a good thing. But all things in moderation is another idiom worth keeping in mind. You don’t want to wait too long for something or else it can be a little out of hand. Despite that, people will wait for a long, long time for certain things. Here are 10…
10. There’s a Nearly 40 Year Waitlist For Japanese Beef Croquettes
Have you ever gone into a business like a hair salon or a butcher and been forced to wait in line, maybe even take a number? It can be frustrating if the place is busy while you just stand there and hope you’re next to be served. Now imagine if your number hadn’t been called for 38 years.
In Japan, there’s a family-owned butcher called Asahiya, and they are known for their Kobe beef croquettes. They are potato and beef dumplings that are covered in a crispy coating and deep-fried. That sounds tasty enough and you have to assume they are since the waiting list to buy a box in 2022 was 38 years long.
Other croquettes only have a four-year wait which you can probably just nap your way through, but their “extreme croquettes” come in at nearly four decades. What makes them extreme? Marketing.
The owner of the shop realized when he started online sales that people didn’t like to pay premium prices for beef online. So he sold croquettes for $1.80 when they had $2.70 worth of beef in them. It’s a proof-of-concept product that they sell at a loss to prove how good they are in the hopes you’ll come and buy something else at a normal price.
The limited supply comes from the fact that not only are they sold at a loss, but they are handmade fresh every day with local ingredients. It’s impossible to keep up with the demand, especially when word got out about how good they are, so the wait list keeps growing. In 2024, it hit 43 years.
9. The Waitlist for Packers Season Tickets is 30 to 50 Years
Americans love football, just look at the hype over the Superbowl every year even among people who ironically don’t like football at all. People will watch it just for the commercials or the halftime show. That’s solid marketing by the NFL. But for diehard fans, being at a game in person is the real treat and few fans love the game more than Green Bay Packers fans.
If you’re a true Cheesehead you want to get season tickets. Just imagine seeing every Packers game for the entire season. Except, for most fans, that’s exactly what’s going to happen – you’re going to imagine it. The waitlist for season tickets is decades long. Michelle Hensel’s parents put her name on the list when she was two years old. She got her tickets when she was 49.
The decades-long list has 147,000 names on it. Every year those people get a postcard telling them where they are on the list. Every year they move up a few places as the glacier slowly but surely moves you towards getting your shot.
When the time comes, you get warned it’s approaching, then a letter tells you when the tickets are available, and then you have a window in which to pay for the tickets. If you miss your window, you get dumped and the next person on the list has a chance. Numbers only move by about 100 to 200 every year.
8. The Wait for a Free Flag from the Canadian Government is a Century
If you’re a patriotic sort of person, then you probably fly your country’s flag somewhere around your home. In Canada, you can even get a flag that has flown over the Canadian Parliament on what is known as the Peace Tower, one of Canada’s most recognizable landmarks. Every day they raise a new flag above the tower. Old flags are given out, free of charge, to any Canadian who requests one.
While it sounds very cool that you can just ask for such a flag, you need to remember there can only be 365 available in any given year and there are over 30 million Canadians, not to mention institutions that may ask for one or people who just want a second, third, or fourth one. That means you’re getting put on a waitlist if you’re interested, which is currently over 100 years long.
About 20 years ago if you requested one you’d probably have it by now. Some people got theirs ahead of schedule, a mere 14 years into an anticipated 17-year wait. But the list only grows longer as more people learn about it and that puts the newest people basically requesting flags for their children or grandchildren.
7. There’s a 5-Year Wait For Service Dogs That Didn’t Graduate
You’ve probably seen service dogs out in the world before. These dogs have to go through some rigorous training to meet the demands of aiding a person who can’t see, or whatever other service they provide. So what happens when a dog can’t actually do the job? Like any school, service dog school has failures.
Turns out you can adopt a failed service dog, as depressing as that title makes them sound, and they are in high demand. Just because they didn’t make it as a service dog doesn’t mean they’re not well-trained. If you want one, depending on which service you’re trying to adopt from, the wait can be as little as a few months but up to a few years in some cases.
Guide Dogs of America doesn’t call them failed service dogs, they call them Career Change Dogs because isn’t that adorable? It’s a five-year wait and they also don’t accept new names on the list, either.
6. There’s a New York Restaurant That Is Working Through a 10-Year Waitlist
You knew restaurants had to be on this list somewhere, right? They may be the most common thing most of us have heard of that sometimes requires a substantial wait period. If there’s an exclusive, high-brow restaurant in town with a fancy chef, you could wait months to get into some places. And that’s if you’re lucky.
There’s a New York restaurant that stopped taking reservations in 2014 and is still filling old ones in 2024. Damon Baehrel only seats 20 people which is part of the reason the waitlist got so out of hand. It’s also in the basement of the chef’s house and he works alone, with no sous chefs or other staff, so he’s arguably limiting his workload by keeping things kind of tight with bookings.
The restaurant has no menu, it’s literally just whatever the chef cooked that day. He’s the sort of guy who forages local ingredients and then makes your meal for you. Something like a 20-item tasting menu. Reviews say the wait is worth it.
5. It Can Take 12 to 14 Years to Get Subsidized Housing in the US and Canada
Both Canada and the US offer subsidized housing for people unable to afford the cost of rent. However, the demand for housing has always far exceeded availability in both countries. In parts of the US, waiting lists for affordable housing are about seven years long. That’s when the lists are still open and accepting new applicants. In 2021, the people in San Diego who received housing vouchers had waited an average of 12 years.
Canada follows the American trend. Those hoping for an affordable, one-bedroom home in Toronto, one of Canada’s most expensive cities, could wait 14 years. In Montreal, the wait time was 6 years. In all of these cases, you can see the issue. Where exactly do you live for years before you can get a place you can afford?
In Canada, community housing used to be a government responsibility but in the early 90s the federal government made it a provincial matter. Provinces then made it a municipal matter and that meant only cities with a surplus of money could even think of affording such things. The result was that barely any construction happened thereafter. Thus, the wait lists continued to grow.
4. It Takes 3 to 5 Years to Get a Kidney Transplant
Your kidneys are doing some good work in your body and it’s always a good idea to have at least one that works properly. But sometimes things happen and your kidneys fail. What then? Luckily for most people, kidney transplants are often very successful and you can continue to live a good life after getting a new one. But we did skip a step in the middle there and that’s waiting for one to turn up.
While people who need new hearts are often on the list for a shorter period, what could even be a few days but also up to several months, kidneys are a little different. If you’re on the transplant waiting list, you can expect to wait three to five years.
That wait time is the average. Some parts of the US will see you wait even longer. Of course, the opposite can be true as well. Your circumstances could get you bumped up the list to a much sooner operation but, again, that’s your average.
3. You’ll Wait 13 Years For Vienna Philharmonic Tix
If you’re a fan of orchestral music, then you are familiar with the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the most famous orchestras in the world. The orchestra has existed since 1842 and is famously run by the musicians themselves, not some director. They have only used guest conductors for the better part of a century now.
The orchestra is so famous that every show is sold out and has been so pretty much forever. If you wish to subscribe to their concert series, you can do so by putting your name on the waitlist for tickets. It’s about 13 years long right now.
2. You Can Wait 5 Years for a Rolex Daytona
Most of us have a few brand names in mind when we think of things that signify wealth. Things that rich people buy. Like Cristal champagne. Or a Ferrari. Or a Rolex. But just because you’re rich doesn’t mean you get faster service. If you want a Rolex Daytona watch, be prepared to wait up to 5 years for one.
According to jewelers who sell the watches, there are actually a few reasons for a longer wait. First, Rolex isn’t rushing these things out. If they have precious metal parts included, they might take longer to manufacture. But there’s also the discretion of your seller. Jewelers don’t really do the “first come first serve” thing. Instead, they give preferential service to favored customers.
If your watch seller likes you, or you have already spent a lot of money there and they know you’ll spend more, they’ll bump you up the list. If you’re just some stranger looking for a watch, expect a much longer wait.
1. Nursing Home Spots in Beijing Have a 100-Year Wait List
Here’s a concept that’s hard to wrap your head around. If you or a loved one gets to be a certain age and they can no longer adequately care for themselves, where do they go? A nursing home is the typical response here. But how much time do you have, if you’re already a person who needs to be in a nursing home, to wait to get into a nursing home?
In China, the wait for some spots in Beijing nursing homes has hit 100 years. That means, to safely secure one, you’re going to want to reserve a spot for your unborn child and hope for the best.
To be fair, this was not all nursing homes, it was the most popular nursing home. And, no doubt, this place must have been the Ritz of nursing homes to develop a wait list that long. Ironically, the deputy director of the facility was quick to point out they don’t even have the best facilities, but they do pride themselves on their service.
The turnover rate is very low with a few dozen to maybe 100 openings per year with 1,100 beds total and with such a massive population that China has, there are far more people who want to get in than there are spots available.