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Honestly, if only two people read this article I'd be really happy. Those two people are Tyree Campbell and the manager or general manager of the Papa Johns Pizza location on S. Broadway near Walmart in Tyler, Texas. It's extremely rare I write an article that is so targeted, hopefully, though you'll continue reading and feel inspired by this young man, Tyree Campbell.

After leaving work last Tuesday night, I called in an order to the Papa John's call center on my way home and the guy told me it would be about twenty minutes before I could pick it up. Perfect, because that's about the time it typically takes to stop by and get a pizza on the way home. It's what happened when I got to the store that drew my attention and the reason for my writing this.

This is like one of those open letters to a business, in this case, Papa Johns Pizza. Papa Johns I do understand that finding employees to work and make pizzas for us is difficult and I do know that you are hiring because of the sign in the window, but (in my opinion) there is no excuse to leave one guy running your entire store during the after-work dinner rush

See, I arrived after my twenty-minute window was up at the store and joined the other people who were in the lobby waiting as one employee was left working in your store. You and your manager left your only employee, Tyree, working the entire store, alone.

Tyree was:

  • greeting people that walked in
  • making pizzas
  • taking phone orders
  • collecting money for orders
  • giving orders to those who were waiting
  • continuing to make pizzas

This happened last Tuesday night around 6 p.m., your only employee was running your entire operation as six people waited in the lobby as he made several pizzas while the orders kept filling the screen above the prep station, and then those stickers kept printing out of the label maker. He did all of this without appearing to be upset. Yes, you could see he was extremely busy but he was focused on the job that probably takes at least four people to do usually, ALL BY HIMSELF.

Employees work hard with little recognition, Tyree I want to say 'THANK YOU'.

Needless to say, I arrived and my pizzas weren't ready. Tyree told me it would be about another 30 minutes because there were several orders ahead of me. I was cool with it because I understood he was THE ONLY employee working. I just wondered where the on-duty manager was. Well, about an hour went by as I patiently waited, along with about eight other customers at this point, until Tyree finally called my name and delivered my pizzas to me.

I watched this continue for about 45 minutes and then finally a delivery driver showed up and another employee popped in right as I was leaving to give Tyree some help and relief. Before leaving though I told him that he was doing an awesome job given his work conditions at the time. He thanked me for taking the time and told me to have a great rest of my night.

Be kind to restaurant and service industry employees. They are working hard to serve you.

I sure hope that the right person at Papa Johns Pizza on S. Broadway near Walmart in Tyler reads this and realizes what an outstanding employee they have. A guy that was doing his job, not complaining and simply taking care of the customer's orders and those that came through the front door as best as he could.

Any other employer would be happy to have an employee like Tyree Campbell. Papa Johns Pizza, I sure hope you know what kind of employee you have in Tyree and appreciate him and reward him for his hard work.

Now, if you're needing a job or know someone that needs one, this Papa John's location is currently hiring and when you get hired on and work with Tyree I sure hope some of his work ethic rubs off on you!

Oh and Tyree, in case you see and read this, thank you again for your hard work, you DESERVE the recognition.

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