Why Do People Have Such Strong Feelings for the Portland Airport’s Carpet?

Transit hubs, and airports especially are often a location where critical transitions happen in peoples lives. I used to live in Portland, and I can think of several times where important events happened on that carpet. This includes the last time I saw people that I care about. I can recall a couple times where my flight was late and I spent anxious time trying to sleep in the terminal. I feel that its deeper than kitsch, even if people don't admit it. The article touches on this, but it doesn't go to far in.

I've been meaning to try Rogue's PDX carpet beer [1].

[1] http://buy.rogue.com/rogue-pdx-carpet-ipa/

As a Portland native, I'd say there's nothing Portlanders love more than Portlandy things from Portland.

But in seriousness, I think it's fairly clear the whole obsession with the carpet was started by photos shared on Facebook and Instagram. People didn't used to take pictures of the carpet -- it was just a peculiar design that was recognizable but not necessarily noteworthy. I remember seeing PDX carpet photos with the classic "feet on ground" composition circulating Facebook several years ago and it has steadily spread since.

But the announcement of the carpet's eventual replacement really galvanized the phenomenon because it turned it into a news story and created a cottage industry for carpet memorabilia. I think the whole thing is hilarious.

That carpet always made me feel a little nauseous - especially on early morning flights. But I do agree it's different. I think Portland has so many wet days and is generally gloomy that the carpet is quite a cultural shock.

If an Andy Warhol print hanging in the New York Museum of Modern Art, which even the museum doesn't take very seriously, can be worth millions, some previously ubiquitous carpet in a popular city can be worth tens of millions of dollars also (of course divided by the number of reasonably sized samples that exist).

Why Do People Have Such Strong Feelings for the East Berlin Pedestrian Signals http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/09/the...

What an interesting article. I've been to many airports with carpet, but for some reason, PDX is stuck in my mind -- and the carpet is specifically stuck in my mind. I have no sentimental ties to the city (I've been there, it's nice, but that's true of a lot of places).