While Dennis in Vandenberg gets all the hype for being a sweet, kind and talented man, there is another man who makes life better at Oakland day-by-day as well. Dennis deserves his hype for sure, but it is time we as Oakland University students give our man Richard some damn respect.

Richard, for those who are uneducated, is the man who works in Tilly’s in Oak View. Richard’s customary greeting for those who enter his safe haven is “Hey Buddy!” And once you hear those words, you are instantly relaxed. Richard is a man who will take the time out of his day to ask you how you are, no matter who you are.

“Richard is the type of man that I would invite to a barbecue,” Leonardo DiCaprio said. “That guy honestly deserves my only Oscar. I worked hard for that thing, but he deserves the recognition more.”

Aw man, I just bought a DiGiorno pizza and it’s all frozen! What will I do? Oh wait! Richard will warm it up for me in the toaster oven so I don’t have to burn down Oak View trying to operate an oven! Bless you, Richard.

“Our sales increased dramatically since Richard began heating those pizzas up,” Mr. DiGiorno, founder of DiGiorno Pizza said. “No one wants to use a damn oven themselves, which is why we almost went bankrupt.”

These are the little things every day that I see Richard doing, out of the kindness of his own heart. He does not need to do that for us, but he does, because he wants us to enjoy a great slice of frozen pizza as soon as we can. He cares. He cares about us and our day-to-day happiness.

“Tilly’s scared me at first,” freshman Zoey Zingle said. “Once I was welcomed and talked with Richard about the Detroit Lions, I felt like I was welcome. He really is a great guy.”

More than anything else, he brings a light of positivity to Tilly’s that makes it 100 times better than anything Hillcrest could ever offer. The size of “The Hive” may be bigger, but just because a house is big does not make it a home. Tilly’s is a home thanks to our man Richard, welcoming us with a hearty greeting and casual conversation.

I love all the men and women who work at Tilly’s. They are always super nice to everyone that comes through, but the captain of the kindness team is without a doubt Richard. Always asking “how are you” and upon leaving saying “have a good one” are the things that are easy to do, but not everyone does them.