DEAR HOWARD

Dear Howard,

I hope all is well back home and that the pizza business is as good for you as it was when I left Great Falls back in January and always has been. Even though I’ve been able to find a few tasty Indian dishes while I’ve been up here in Kolkata, I can honestly say I haven’t found anything that comes close to a Howard’s pizza and as soon as I get back home in May, I can assure you that the Wine Mill will be one of the first places I stop in and say hello. If I’m lucky, and I mean real lucky, maybe I’ll have the opportunity to meet ya then.

Despite the fact that I’ve been a loyal patron of yours ever since I was old enough to eat the “Howard’s Special” and I’m now nearing 29 years young, I don’t expect you to know who I am, since an expectation like that would be no different than me thinking Steven Gray would know who I was simply because he's been one of my favorite Zag basketball players and I’ve watched nearly all the games he’s played in since he’s been a student at Gonzaga University (my alma mater).

As to why I’ve written this letter to you all the way from India comes down to two reasons really and the first I’ve already accomplished; that being, letting you know how much I respect the Howard behind the pizza and how much I love the pizza behind the Howard. Maybe you hear this kind of flattery quite often, but if you’re like a lot of great people in the world, it would mean you don’t, and so just in case you fall in this category of the underappreciated, I wanted to make sure you knew how much everyone loves you.

My second reason as to why I’m writing this letter to you is because I was hoping you might take into consideration the possibility of me working for you when I got back early May from my volunteering stint with the Missionaries of Charity in India. Why I’ve chosen to write a letter to you, instead of another employer that many might think would be more suitable for my education and prior work experience, is quite simple really. I’ve always wanted to work for you at some point in my lifetime, you’re a “CARE MORE” kind of guy, and your business hours are a perfect fit for me as they would allow me to spend my days concentrating on starting my own organization by the name of “The CARE MORE foundation," which would be a nonprofit foundation devoted to “making the world a BETTERPLACE with one random act of kindness at a time.”

Although I’d be tickled to have the opportunity to work any position you might have available for me once I got back, I will admit that if I had the opportunity to be a delivery guy for you, especially at your Wine Mill location, that would leave me so tickled, I’d most certainly have to cry out “give me a break, give me a break." Why the delivery position? Maybe it’s selfish for me to say this, but I want to be the person that gets to see the customer’s eyes light up once they see your truck and face pull up in the driveway. Plus, with your permission only, I might be able to use this position to perform an occasional CARE MORE random act of kindness as well, but we could discuss that topic at a later date if you were ever interested.

Whether I come back from India with a Howard’s shirt waiting for me or not, don’t think for a minute that not getting the opportunity to work for you, will keep me from being one of your biggest fans and from stopping in for a pitcher of beer, order of wings, and an “in house” medium pepp.

If there is any additional info I could provide you with that would help you get a better idea of whether or not I’m the right man for any position you might have available, let me know and I’d be happy to assist.

I sincerely hope to hear from you after you have the time to read this letter, but if I don’t, I wish you the best, keep doing what you’re doing and Go Zags!

Tyson Hendrickson
tysonhendrickson@hotmail.com

Postmarked: 03/22/2011