Day 460: Chains

The day has been rich with smells. Good ones, mostly. This morning, taking my (slightly late) prana walk through the park, I was met with grass and general morning smells. Later, whizzing on my bike towards Seven Dials, roses accosted me up the nose, from really far away. I was impressed! And scooting down the hill towards the station, something else was busy blooming and giving off scent, all summer and shouting about it. 

The two-day-old cooked kale in a tupperware smelt less good, though not as bad as it will smell when I get back to it on Sunday night. It's sitting balled up in three carrier bags on my bed, having been fished out of the bin for smelling like a massive, constant fart. My plan was to remove it from the flat and throw it in a bin, but that plan failed when I entirely forgot about it. Kale is a superfood: super good when it's fresh, but with kryptonite powers of stink after no more than a sweaty hour or two in a tupperware. 

So I've had this idea that I'd like to try out. I love supermarkets. Their smells, their sounds, their bright lights and routines make me feel safe, but not in a productive way. When I'm not sure of things, I know that a short trip around Sainsbury's will make me feel somehow capable in the world. Capable of shopping for cheese. Not what I want as my epitaph. I also whore myself out to chain cafes as a place to work, pretending it's for the free wifi, but I've anchored this habit so strongly that even when I find free internet without having to buy a drink, I seek one out. Quite honestly, right now, that's not where the money I have needs to be going, and it can only be contributing to the not-so-lean-ness I'm currently enjoying (I'm being avoidy of the f-word, but a little bit rounder than before or not, this is a body I'm mostly pleased with).

Aaaaanyway. The idea is another '100 days of' experiment. This one would be 100 days of Freedom From Chains. No, I'm not giving up S&M (or taking it up in order to give it up again). I'm wondering what would happen if I declined to spend time or money in any establishment that's a chain. Any shop you can use the indefinite article in front of. This would extend to internet giants too. That means finding an alternative to amazon or Waterstones online. I'm loving the library action Brighton is affording me anyway, but you see the point. 


I honestly think it's going to be really difficult for me, but really beneficial too. Maybe I shouldn't assume. Maybe I can just stay curious and see what happens. The exceptions I can think of are charity shops. You can say 'a British Heart Foundation' or 'a Shelter shop' but the contents are very different and it'd be very useful to be able to requisition smart gear for a corporate job or a winter jumper, when the time inevitably comes. I think it'd be wise to keep even that to a minimum, though. How often do I need to trawl the aisles of Age Concern? Possibly not as often as I do.

In addition, I give myself grace if I'm on a job somewhere and the catering is done by a chain, or we're staying in a chain hotel that's fine. I'm not paying in those cases anyway. Where there's a choice, though, I'll opt out. Better all round. And on the rare occasions that I'm sociable enough to go to someone else's birthday do, should it be held at a chain, I might concede, as opposed to shouting 'Fuck you, Birthday Boy! I will not set foot inside a Pizza Express, not for you or anyone else!'. I might not. 

Why do this? Mostly to broaden my experience. I've spent time in a number of different countries over the past year. If you wanted to, you could make your whole experience almost entirely uniform and bland. Apart from minimal local touches and a change in currency, a Starbucks serves you the same dose of corporate familiarity wherever you are. A complacent cappuccino with chocolate sprinkles, £2.40 for fitting in. 

There are more whys, but it's after midnight and my unconsciousness is calling me to its restless bosom. Or the pillow. Night then.