Little Gubbins Experiments

February is a month of little Gubbins Experiments. For me, as well as continued car-free-ness, this month is intoxicant-free too: I'm calling it Fudge-Free February (my brain won't be fudged). As with the car-centric Gubbins Experiment, there's a clear purpose for me doing this but I'm also interested in the unforeseeable psychological experience along the way - and I'm not doing this as a statement about anyone else. In other words, no "holier than thou" sentiments around here. You do your thing and I'll do mine.


The ostensible reason for FFF reflects my personal battle with intoxicants since my early 20s. No, I have never had an alcohol or drug problem, addiction, or anything like that. I'm fairly par for the course in how much and how often I consume them. If anything, I'm a little on the light side. But the effects on the clarity of my mind and the dependency that arises over time (eg. "I'm at a party - I must drink") have long bothered me. Why do I feel the need to use such blunt instruments to have a good time? What does it say about the things I do when my primary recollections sometimes revolve around substance-driven behavior?

I've never made substantial conclusions about these questions, but recently I'd also been getting bothered by the constant "shall I, shan't I?" questions whenever I'm in a social environment and considering consumption. There's also the cost: $5 for one drink (the standard rate for beer plus tip here in San Francisco) seems a real rip-off to me. If our economy really depends on these kinds of purchases, maybe we need to rethink things. But most of all, the Gubbins Experiment showed me a little about the joys of simplicity. Chiefly for that reason, I decided to go for FFF. Simple is easy and easy is good.

This reminds me of another Gubbins Experiment of mine, began back in late 2001. At the time, I was having an issue with using all this shampoo, coming out of the shower with whispy light hair, and then using a ton of gel to keep my hair down. Did I even need shampoo? What would happen if I stopped using it? Although I didn't really ask around, I'd never heard of anyone who'd stopped using shampoo.

So, I thought I'd give it a go, just to see what would happen. Well, not much happened, apart from the pleasant effect that my hair became stronger and a little thicker with the natural oils remaining in. I asked a few people about the all-important smell issue and almost everyone said that it just smelled like "natural hair"; certainly not bad. (The only people who said it smelled were the people who had been most shocked by the idea before even sampling the results, which leads me to believe that their noses were being lead by their minds.) Thus, I never used shampoo again and I've been happy ever since.


But even if folks don't want to completely go without shampoo, they could even try forgoing it for a week or so to see what happens - or they could try alternating between shampoo showers and shampoo-free showers. It never harms to keep all these chemicals out of the water system.

Of course, many people might disagree with me about the shampoo thing. If so, there's plenty of other experiments to try. It's a great experience to try an experiment or two with your habits. My heart is warmed by San Francisco resident Colleen, who contacted me recently to say that she's going car-free in February, using her MUNI fast pass. So far, Colleen is doing fine, apart from an almost back-breaking haulage onto the bus of beer (bought for her significant other, I should add) back to her home. Interestingly, her car-free experiences have made Colleen more aware of how much trash there is on the streets. Keep sharing your observations, Collen, and good luck for the rest of the month.