parentheticals.com - Report, Reflections and Robots (Burning Man 2018): Part 1—Greeter Shift, Center Camp, Arctica, Camp Meetings

I set an alarm and dragged myself out of bed at around 2:30am on Monday to get my shit together for going out to do a 4am Greeter shift with a bunch of other pinkies. It took a little while before we coalesced as a group that was ready to go but eventually we had about 8-10 people and set out on our bikes for the Greeter station. I wound up sharing a greeter lane with Terri and we had a lot of fun working together (we even developed a kind of patter). We made lots of virgins roll around in the dust and ring the bell and we gave lots of advice and hugs and cheer and generally entertained ourselves as well as the people coming in. We saw a beautiful sunrise too.

I was pretty glad when it was over though because I was tired from waking up so early and from giving out so much energy. We rallied for a group pic (though Mom and Mamadoody were missing because they’d driven there together and took off right afterwards to go drive back) and biked back in a clump. I peeled off to Center Camp with Anji on the way back and we went to go get some cold drinks at the Café and rest and chat for a while. We talked a lot about issues going on behind the scenes at camp and our feelings about said issues, which put me in a somewhat uneasy mood, but I was resolved not to let any issues or drama mess with my burn so I tried to just listen and hold everything as lightly as possible.

Group shot of pinkies after our Greeter shift

Once we got back to camp I decided to take a nap because I had another volunteer shift with a bunch of other pinkies coming up at 2pm, at Arctica. So I got some sleep and hung out some and changed my clothes and then at around 1:30, we got on Headspace and cruised through the city streets over to Ice 9 on the other side of the playa (we had volunteered there at our “usual” Arctica before we found out that our camp was placed on the other side of the playa this year). It was super fun cruising around in comfort and style with other pinkies down the streets of the city, laughing and enjoying the beats and waving to people. Headspace is an amazing art car—from the super sweet second story dance floor and DJ station to the luxurious purple furred cushions of the downstairs lounge area, it’s all been designed with love and attention and is a lot of fun to ride on.

Arctica was a ton of fun as usual—once again I was a greeter with Anjanette, although mostly I was outside or at the entrance to the igloo, and Anji was the last stop inside before handing people off to the cashiers. There was a lot of dancing and a lot of hugging and a lot of playing around with all the burners coming to get ice. Apparently Monday late afternoon is a pretty slow time at Arctica, so I also did a lot of perspective gifting (“Hey, I have something for you...a burn memory. Do you remember that one time, at Arctica, when there was no line and you got to walk straight in and just get your ice, no hassle, no waiting? That’s today. I hope you remember this moment, you don’t get it this good all the time.”) We’ve now been doing this shift so many years at this same Arctica that the Arctica folks remember and enjoy us and it all went really smoothly and everyone had a good time. Afterwards we took our ice and our tips and rode triumphantly back to camp on Headspace.

Group shot of pinkies after our Arctica shift

Once we got back to camp again it was time for dinner and our big all-Camp meeting where we talk about All The Things about camp and what was going on that week. That went on for quite some time as it always does, and when it was over, Josh and I hosted a newbies (and sponsors) get-to-know-you Q&A and social, where Josh made margaritas with the Coolest and we all introduced ourselves and I handed out wooden heart necklaces and had everyone do a version of the Love Bomb ritual (both so they could benefit from it and so they could learn how to do it themselves at the water bar if they were so inclined). I think it was a really nice thing to pull all the new pinkies together and let them see each other and start the process of becoming PHamily together.

I’m pretty sure the rest of the night was just hanging out in frontage. I didn’t want to stay up super late because I had a freak flag workshop to run in the morning, and I was already tired from all the volunteering and other stuff I’d done that day. I do remember (because I took a couple pictures!) that at some point that evening a whole lot of fireworks went off, in a big coordinated circle all over the playa. I’m not sure if they were supposed to be for or meant something specific, but they sure were pretty.

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