You are probably familiar with the timeless phrase: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” This is a classic case of a guy who did just that, but had the fortune and honesty to recognise his mistake and learn a valuable lesson about friendship.

Twitter user Thomas Mcfall shared his heartwarming tale recently, and it has quickly gone viral as people were touched by the sincere and friendly actions of an ‘immigrant’ student, as well as Thomas’ capacity for honest and frank self-reflection.

We are all so busy these days, sometimes it’s easy to lose a little of our basic humanity and ability to connect with people. Thomas certainly experienced this, being constantly annoyed with the foreign guy sitting next to him in class at Youngstown State University, Ohio, only noticing the negatives and making no time to read between the lines. What happened next was somewhat fortunate on Thomas’ part, without a twist of fate he might never have realized what he was missing. But realize he did, and it makes for a lovely story!

Unfortunately however, the story seems not to have touched everyone. There have been some strange and disturbing reactions since it went viral. “The response has been mostly positive,” Thomas told Bored Panda. “However, I’ve been branded as a racist by a multitude of individuals. To me, that thought process is unjustified and insane. I’ve also received death threats. But nothing too surprising given the nature of the internet.”

Sadly, because of this, the story will end there. “He’s seen that I’ve been getting death threats due to my story and he doesn’t want to reveal any identifying information,” Thomas explained about his friend’s concerns. “That’s why a GoFundMe hasn’t been started.”

It’s not gonna stop the pair staying buddies though and for most sane and rational people, there are a lot of positive vibes to take away from the tale.

“We will absolutely stay friends. He’s great!”

Scroll down below to check out the story for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!

Twitter user Thomas Mcfall recently shared a life lesson he didn’t expect to get, and it has quickly gone viral

People were touched and some even wanted to help Tom’s classmate

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