Google employees order 10-pound box of live lobsters for Burning Man meal

Apparently some Burners are eating better than others: A group of Google employees reportedly shipped out a box of live lobsters to the festival for a meal. Scroll through the slideshow to see photos from this year's Burning Man. less Apparently some Burners are eating better than others: A group of Google employees reportedly shipped out a box of live lobsters to the festival for a meal. Scroll through the slideshow to see photos from this ... more Photo: Kyle Hendrix / Nevada BLM Photo: Kyle Hendrix / Nevada BLM Image 1 of / 39 Caption Close Google employees order 10-pound box of live lobsters for Burning Man meal 1 / 39 Back to Gallery

If you know where to order a box of live lobsters and how to get them safely to Black Rock City for Burning Man, that should still count as falling under the principle of "radical self-reliance."

Right?

Well, it seems that a group of Burners from Google found themselves preparing for the gathering and were looking to have a luxurious meal at the start of Burning Man. But rather than going for something land-based, the group instead turned to Maine company Lobster207 to rush deliver a 10-pound box of live lobsters to Google offices at Sunnyvale, the Reno Gazette-Journal confirmed.

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The purchaser asked if the lobsters could be shipped to see if they "could survive the journey, basically from the ocean floor to the deserts of Nevada" Lobster207 manager David Sullivan told the paper.

Shipped overnight and arriving Friday in California, the lobsters were taken on the road to Burning Man, where they arrived Sunday. The lobsters are carefully packed in styrofoam coolers with seaweed and layers of ice gel packs and paper to keep the live creatures cool for the trip — all for a total of approximately $140, with shipping.

As for whether the lobsters survived? They made it, but probably did not stay alive for much longer.

"They said it was very fresh and lively," Sullivan said. "It was everything we were hoping for, too, when we sent them out to the desert."

As odd (and opulent) as it sounds to dine on lobsters in the desert, it's apparently now de rigeur for certain camps to splash out on meals, as well as costumes and deluxe accommodations. In a 2014 New York Times article covering the tech elite "invading" Burning Man, a man paid to help with one of the so-called luxury camps described "lavish RVs" parked in such a way as to keep out outsiders, and decadent-sounding meals of sushi, lobster rolls and steak tartare, made by "teams of chefs."

Definitely not the trail mix and sandwiches one would expect to eat while at Burning Man.

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If one is wondering whether the other principles of "gifting" and "radical inclusion" are being practiced by those glamping at Burning Man, there is one example of a camp treating its neighbors to an extravagant meal: One writer described the time he investigated a man offering up steak and lobster via a ballpark barker-ish type call outside of his camp. Inside a tent, there was a dining table, where the writer was given steak and an entire lobster, along with wine pairings.

With luxury camps and celebrities here to stay at Burning Man, lobster and steak meals could become a mainstay in the desert — just hope they plan on sharing.