As this post goes up, the Restoration team is working on Burning Man cleanup, scouring the Black Rock Desert for any traces of 2018’s event.

Burners work very hard to Leave No Trace. Line sweeps, cross-raking, magnetic rakes – all come in handy. That works for stray washers, runaway bits of tape or lost beads. But what about the things you said that you wish you hadn’t, or the things you didn’t say and wish you had? What about those norms you violated? AND WHAT ABOUT THE SHIFTS YOU MISSED? Maybe not everyone is finished cleaning up after themselves. Magnetic rakes can’t help with everything.

That’s what PlayApology camp is for. SorryWatch has visited PlayApology since 2013. (To be precise, the Sumac part of the SorryWatch team has done so – Snarly seems dust-averse.) Including 2015, the year of the Awful Thing.

PlayApology helps Burners apologize. If needed, Apology Concierges talk them through what to say and how. PlayApology helps, when desired, by writing poems or songs for the occasion, and supplying cards, flowers, and gifts to go with the apology. (The flowers aren’t real, since live plants are not allowed in Black Rock City. This year there were elegant white roses made of bamboo.)

They also deliver apologies. For the first time, PlayApology was listed on the whiteboards for volunteer opportunities. Anyone could sign up to deliver apologies. Many people did, and many were delighted with the experience and came back asking for more apologies to deliver.

The hardest part is often finding the person the apology is for. “This apology is for Alkahest in Camp Brigadoon. It’s near 8:30 and Iron Giant. Look for a dome?”

Sumac went along in a quest to deliver an apology (for what we do not know) from one tent-mate to another, but no one was home.

Still, that was better than an apology Sumac helped deliver last year. That was for forgetting to bring Moscow Mules the apologizer had promised to pick up in Reno. We sang a song Sue Fernandez had written:

You were waiting for my sorry ass

To bring you Moscow Mules

I regret I was forgetful and

I acted like a tool

I would give you all the vodka in the

world if there were time

and I want to make it up to you

with a singing silly rhyme

I’m an asshole I’m sorry I forgot

Please enjoy these mini vodkas

Playapology has brought.

The apologisee stood on the step of her trailer and listened without expression. She did not actually snort, but it was clear the apology was not accepted. Keep in mind that she almost certainly did not want those Moscow Mules for herself, but to give to others, in accordance with the Burning Man principle of gifting. A few mini vodkas could not be a substitute.

Other newly-minted Apology Concierges headed out to deliver apologies for being shitty at putting up shade, for missing a shift, and for “abusing the bond between us.” There were also two different apologies for being SO BUSY at Burning Man that they didn’t manage to properly celebrate anniversaries.

This year Sumac was with a group of 7 that delivered an apology to a nearby camp, PlayApologist Jake improvised a short melody and taught it to us. We went to the tent at the front of the camp, and asked for the person to whom the apology was addressed. Some of her camp-mates gathered as we waited for her to appear. When she came, we gave her a bunch of white roses, a card the apologizer had written, and sang:

We are here to say – so sorry!

I forgot to bring more vegan snacks.

“I’m so touched!” she said, and hugged us all. “This is one of the best mornings of my life.”

Burning Man has found it good to have its own versions of many things found in the default world – an airport (Black Rock City Municipal Airport, FAA 88NV), a DMV (Department of Mutant Vehicles), a post office, urgent medical care, peace officers (the Black Rock Rangers), and so forth. Turn that around, and PlayApology is a Burning Man thing that the default world could use.