Ok, so this photograph is not a photo of Taco Bell, and that’s because I am not employed by that establishment to provide marketing. However, if Taco Bell wants to employ me as a marketer, using my lively application of words to their products, I’ll be happy to do so.  Also, it’s still summer, and I enjoyed walking on this Lake Michigan Beach.

I try to be on time for my patients, or at least do the best I can to arrive in their exam room at the appointed time, but often I fail.  That’s because of multiple reasons, such as the patient before was complex, required a lot of time, and also talked too much about grandkids, family reunions etc.  It may also be that my surgeries are running late at the hospital or people decided to be sick at inappropriate times.

However, when my patients are late to their office appointments it bothers me, especially if they don’t call ahead.  After all, people call ahead to restaurants to inform the staff that they will be late for their reservation due to traffic, or the weather etc. But recently, one of my patients, and older gentleman, arrived about 15 minutes late, with his wife.  He was pleasant and since this was his first visit, I of course, was polite and generous.  I think.

He said, “Sorry Dr. Carson, but we drove to the wrong building.   I knew it was across from the Ajax building, so I pulled in to this driveway that looked like it might be your office, but turns out, I was right in front of the drive through window at Taco Bell, a fine eating establishment. So, that’s why we’re late.  Sorry.”  He and his wife laughed.

“Ha!  That’s funny Mr. Fajita, I mean Finkelsternersmith.  What did you order in the drive through?”

“Well, since we were there, we went ahead and ordered 2 Taco Bell Grandes.”

“Good choice.” I didn’t ask if they ate them in the car before they came up to their appointment with me, but after our office visit, everything went well and I had some ideas that I have subsequently implemented with the Taco Bell next door to our office so that both businesses could take advantage of lost patients. Certainly, in this instance, Taco Bell was the winner, in that they received extra business due to my patient becoming lost.  Or maybe he perfectly well knew what he was doing, but, I could tell in his eyes that he was truthful. But maybe I was the winner too, because I enjoyed a good laugh and met a very nice patient and his wife.

So, on the drive through menu, Taco Bell has agreed to place several additional options on their menus:  Nacho fries, Burrito Supreme, Fiery Dutch Locos Tacos, Cheese Quesadilla, etc., and then, make an appointment with Dr. Carson, sign in to Dr. Carson’s office reception for your appointment early, insurance information, history form, blow in to this tube for a quick breathing test, and stick your arm out and we will check your vital signs for your visit with Dr. Carson while you eat your Taco.

We are hoping to implement this mutually beneficial drive – through menu starting September 1, and hopefully, Taco Bell will be pleased with the business my lost patients have been giving them by surprise, and at the same time, my office saves time and signs the patients in quicker, obtains vital signs for charting, and even pulmonary function testing could potentially be done by trained Taco Bell employees while the patient sits in their car, hopefully before they start eating their tacos.

I’ll keep you updated on the negotiations with Taco Bell.

To the reader:  Finkelsternersmith  is not a real patient name.  It is fictional. If this is a real name from somewhere, then, of course, it is purely a coincidence.  Oh and Taco Bell has not yet called me about this opportunity.

© SR Carson Publications. 2018