This Guy Was Fed Up With His ‘Foreign’ Classmate Who Always Sat By Him Until He Overheard The Heartwarming Reason Why
I know we all love Twitter for the jokes and the dank memes, but every now and then you’ll run across a tweet that actually makes you stop, think, and maybe even cry. Twitter user Thomas McFall‘s thread did just that, and it’ll change the way you interact with the people in your life.
It all started when Thomas started attending a management class, and he noticed one of his classmates always sat next to him…
Hey guys, I know I usually just post shitty jokes on my Twitter but bear with me because I wanted to share something.
So in one of my Management classes I sit in the same seat in the front every day. Every single day I sit there.
Now, I also sit next to some foreign guy that
— Thomas McFall (@thomas___mcfall) April 9, 2018
barely speaks English. The most advanced thing I've heard this guy say in English is "Wow, my muffin is really good".
This guy also has a habit of stacking every item he owns in the exact space I sit. His bag, his food, his books, and his phone are ALWAYS right on my desk space.
— Thomas McFall (@thomas___mcfall) April 9, 2018
Now, every single time I walk into class this guy says "Ah, Tom. You here. Okay." And starts frantically clearing my desk of his belongings. He then makes it a habit to say "Ready for class, yeah?" And gives me a high five. Every day this guy gives me a high five.
— Thomas McFall (@thomas___mcfall) April 9, 2018
Thomas wasn’t too fond of his classmate, mostly because he did the same annoying thing EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I was ALWAYS annoyed with this guy. I'm thinking "Dude, you know I sit in this seat every day. Why are you always stacking your shit here? And the last thing I want to do is give a guy who barely speaks my language high fives at 8 in the morning"
Just get your shit off my desk
— Thomas McFall (@thomas___mcfall) April 9, 2018
But today I came to class and was running a few minutes late. I'm standing outside because I had to send a quick text. I could see my usual space through the door out of the corner of my eye. Of course, my desk was filled with his belongings. The usual.
— Thomas McFall (@thomas___mcfall) April 9, 2018
But as it turns out, everything wasn’t as it seemed.
As I'm standing there on my phone another guy who was also late walks into the class before me and tried to take my seat since it's closest to the door.
The guy sitting next to me stops this dude from sitting down and says "I'm sorry. My good friend Thomas sits here."
— Thomas McFall (@thomas___mcfall) April 9, 2018
It was then that I realized this guy wasn't putting stuff on my seat to annoy me. He was saving me the seat every morning.
And this whole time he saw me as a friend but I was too busy thinking about myself to take him into consideration.
Cheesy as it sounds, I was touched.
— Thomas McFall (@thomas___mcfall) April 9, 2018
After Thomas realized he’d been wrong about his classmate this whole time, he decided to change the way he interacted with him and actually made an effort to get to know him.
I ended up going into class and of course he cleared the seat and said "Ah, Tom. You here. Okay." And I did get a high five.
At the end of class I ended up asking him if he wanted to get a bite to eat with me. We did. And we talked for a while. I got through the broken English
— Thomas McFall (@thomas___mcfall) April 9, 2018
The guy moved here from the Middle East to pursue a college education in America. He plans to go back after he gets his degree. He's got two kids and a wife. He works full time and sends his all his left over money back home to his wife.
— Thomas McFall (@thomas___mcfall) April 9, 2018
I asked him how he liked America as well. He said he misses his family but it's exciting to be here. He also said "Not every American is nice to me like you are, Tom."
I bought lunch, of course. Dude deserves it. He gave me a high five for buying lunch. Gotta keep up tradition.
— Thomas McFall (@thomas___mcfall) April 9, 2018
Moral of the story? Don't do what I do and constantly only think about yourself. It took me nearly the entire semester to get my head out of my ass and realize this guy was just trying to be my friend. Better late than never I suppose.
— Thomas McFall (@thomas___mcfall) April 9, 2018
Awwwww. This is honestly so sweet. Let’s just say the thread is making all of us just a little emotional.
Tell my why this thread actually made me cry man.. like this is so heart warming
— kaleidoscope eyes (@ashleyavila_) April 13, 2018
I’m not crying. You’re crying!
— Dittie (@DittiePE) April 15, 2018
This made me tear up. You honestly never know how much you mean to someone or their back story until you give them the shot of being a friend of yours. 😭❤️
— 🐝 (@_lolobee_) April 14, 2018
It’s been a very long day. A very long week. A very long two weeks. A very long 2018, really. This was a really nice story and a very welcome ray of sunshine. Thank you.
— Todd (@bucketochicken) April 13, 2018
Some people even wanted to help out the man and his family in any way possible.
Can you find out how we can help Tom and his family? Kids need clothes or shoes? Wife need money? Does he wanna go home and visit or have his family come visit America? When you have time can you find out? Please?
— +h0ugh+s0F@h0us3w!f3 💫✨ (@neeeeeccceeeeee) April 13, 2018
It’s not surprising that so many people can relate to Thomas’s thread. After all, we all make prejudgments about people we don’t really know and we’ve all gotten unfairly annoyed at someone for seeming like an inconvenience, even when they don’t mean to be. Maybe we all just jump to conclusions a little too quickly. But maybe this will be the little push we need to give people the benefit of the doubt and go out of our ways to get to know them.