As my parents once told a four-year-old me when I refused to accept the passing of Walter,our family Newfoundland, death is just a part of life. Difficult goodbyes are an inevitability. To feel the loss of something is to know you truly loved it.
The students at Georgia Institute of Technology had come to know and love the Taco Bell in their student center. (Well, sort of. The location had three stars on Yelp and complaints of long wait times, understaffing, and maintenance issues.) It provided countless young people with the highly nutritious sustenance, such as Triple Melt Burritos and Beefy Nacho Grillers, that they so desperately needed during times of academic intensity and hard partying alike.
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Sadly, the Georgia Tech student body was forced to say goodbye to their beacon of Chalupas with only a week’s notice that it would be torn from their hungry, student-loan imprisoned hands.
And it was with great sadness that they decided to pay their respects to the beloved pseudo-Mexican fast food institution that had become like a trusted friend. And pay their respects they did. Watch below as students gathered to mourn the loss of the Taco Bell with a military-funeral-style bugle rendition of “Taps.”
More than 130 Georgia Tech students also commiserated in their loss by commenting the letter F on a Reddit Thread.
Interestingly, this is not the first formal memorial service that has been held for a Taco Bell. Back in January, more than 100 people gathered at a Montgomery, Alabama Taco Bell that had been damaged in a fire to form a candlelit vigil and pray for its recovery.
But in the end, never forget: It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Hold your Fire Sauce a little closer tonight, kids. You never know when it could be taken from you.