Helpful Hints

DEAR READERS: Well, it seems some of you don't flip-flop on wearing flip-flops in the shower while at home. Some had safety concerns generated from their experiences. Good point, if you have a medical condition that makes you unstable and might cause dizziness.

In general, these types of flip-flops are used by a lot of people at gyms, spas and athletic venues to prevent picking up a nasty foot problem. You don't want to catch athlete's foot from a public shower. Read on:

"I had to chuckle after reading the letter from Peggy M. in Woodway, Texas, about using rubber flip-flops in the shower. As an ex-GI, serving in the Air Force from 1953-1957, all GIs wore those while showering, but we called them 'shower clogs'! Who knew they would become fashionable?"

-- Hans G., Lebanon, Pa.

"Your safety hint (a reader's hint -- Heloise) of flip-flops for oldsters made me giggle. When I was teaching, we knew spring had sprung when the girls started wearing flip-flops. One principal said they should be banned. (They are, in some schools. -- Heloise)

"If you have never seen girls fall up steps, go to a high school on a spring day when flip-flops are in bloom. The girls would try to step up the steps and get the toe of the flip-flop caught on the step edge and go face down up the stairs. Lots of skinned knees and spilled books."

-- Roberta H., via email

"Flip-flops in the shower are a bad idea, in my opinion. They provide no support to the heel or ankle. Someone could slip on the soapy, wet surface of the flip-flop. I use a rubber shower mat and grab bars in the shower for support."

-- Valerie A. in San Antonio

Readers, each to his or her own. What works for one may not be good for another.

DEAR HELOISE: When the weather is bad, I take the bus to and from work. It has saved me so many times. My neighbor, Jan, suggested this when we had really bad rain and I did not want to drive to work. I checked the schedule and printed it out for the next time.

My husband drove me to the stop, only a few blocks away. I settled in with the newspaper and my coffee. Thirty minutes later, I got off, walked a block and was at work. The ride home was not bad, either. Saved gas and my nerves.

-- C.P., via text

DEAR HELOISE: The plastic knife from a fast-food restaurant can find new life as an eyebrow comb. I carefully "comb" my eyebrows up, and I can see sparse areas that may need a line of eyebrow pencil.

-- Jenna in New York

DEAR READER: Tested, tried and true!

Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email

[email protected]

Weekend on 02/04/2016

Upcoming Events