HELOISE Office staff should receive patience from patients

Dear Heloise: I would like to respond to the reader who doesn't like waiting more than an hour for scheduled appointments with a physician.
I have worked for 10 years with two family-practice physicians. Please do not get upset with the receptionists, nurses or physicians. The receptionists schedule office visits according to the information given by the patient. Not every patient abuses the physician's time. It's just those few who put the physician behind.
There are those who tell us they have a sore throat, but when the physician goes in, not only is it a sore throat, but they've had fatigue for a couple of weeks, plus a mole that needs to be checked. The patients who really put our schedule behind are the patients who make the visit for one child and bring two more siblings to be seen "since the doctor is in the room anyway."
Yes, we allow for emergencies, and those spots are taken by patients who just walk in with chest pains or terrible headaches. Please call us first. Maybe you should be referred to the emergency room. There are some emergencies we are not set up to handle. Please be upfront and honest when scheduling appointments -- this would help prevent scheduling delays.
It made me feel better putting my feelings into words. This is a problem our office is faced with every day, but the patients do not seem to understand. I know they do not feel well, and some are scared or embarrassed, but that's my job. So I take care of them, smile, give them a hug and tell them it will all be OK. Carol, Houston
Dear Carol: I'm sure you speak for many workers in doctors' offices. So, folks, be as specific as possible when making your appointment. Heloise
Dear Heloise: I was at the home of a friend who is almost blind. She asked me to read a card to her that she had received.
The next day, I sent her a birthday card, and this idea popped into my head: Why not get another piece of paper and write what is printed on the card plus what I want to write in big, black, bold letters so she can read it right away and not have to wait until someone stops to see her? Carol Marks, Winamac, Ind.
Dear Heloise: I read in your column a request from one of your readers on how to clean white resin patio chairs. After several years of scrubbing my chairs with a bleach solution and never getting them as clean as I wanted, last summer, after hosing down and wiping off the chairs with a soapy solution and drying them, I took a can of white, glossy spray paint and spray-painted my chairs. I didn't have to paint whole chairs, only the discolored parts. They looked like brand-new, and they dried quickly. P.S., Little Rock, Ark.
Dear Heloise: Speaking from experience, another way to reuse those plastic bags from stores is to give them to your area churches that have food banks. Our church has one, and members bring their bags in for that purpose. R.V.S. from Ohio
XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can't answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.
King Features Syndicate