Burning Man is touted as a no-commerce event. It’s also viewed as a hippie/freak oasis miles away from the “default world”. The closer it gets to the event, though, the more grumbling I hear from people who are a little cynical about the ideals, because there is an insane amount of commerce going on.

I was at a regional burn once, and an acquaintance who was new to the burn scene grumbled to me that she hadn’t seen any of this gifting thing that everyone was talking about. Five seconds after she was done speaking, someone ran up to us to give us some handmade soap. The “gifting thing” is an integral part of burns, and is truly everywhere when you are open to it.