Why Do People Have Such Strong Feelings for the Portland Airport’s Carpet?
“Take a pic of your feet on the carpet,” texted my sister. I had just landed in Portland, Oregon, to visit my siblings, and was walking to the airport exit. Autocorrect must have made a mistake, I thought. Yet I was a little curious. I glanced at the turquoise-blue low pile beneath my feet: dated and tawdry. Basically forgettable. But then she texted an explanation of sorts: “[There’s a] cult following for our carpet that’s being torn up.”
She wasn’t exaggerating. In the wake of an announcement that the. There are carpet-inspired t-shirts, shoes and socks. to install in their homes. Selfies with carpet are posted regularly using the hashtag #pdxcarpet (“PDX” being the three-letter code for Portland’s airport), and it has a page. Some people even had the broadloom’s abstract shapes—symbolizing a control tower and runways—tattooed on their bodies.
