Yesterday’s post showed a picture of Hada’s blue shoes. (See top menu Hada’s Fog.) Her husband, Lev, wears shoes like the one pictured here. When I arrived at my writing class today, some members told me about #Swalwelling. Hada’s shoe reminded them of the article in the local newspaper, Contra Costa Times News section titled “Foot loose: What is ‘Swalwelling” and how did it become a thing?”
The definition for Swalwelling is to take a photo of your feet as you step from the jet bridge onto an airplane and then post it on social media with a hash tag.
A campaign promise by U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell in 2012, was that every week he would return to his district to demonstrate the commitment to his constituents. He took photos of his feet as he stepped from the “jet bridge onto an airplane” when he traveled back and forth from Washington D.C. to the Bay Area the last couple years. “After his first Congressional orientation, the 34-year-old tweeted out a picture of himself crossing the threshold onto the plane.”
Swalwell made the “discreet but symbolic gesture to put his best foot forward.” He has hundreds of pictures of his dress shoes taking that step during his approximately 125 flights a year.
“Some swalwellers have broadened the term to include standing in airport terminals, in the security line — or even walking on a treadmill.” People around the world have been swalwelling. He says, “When you go into a place, it’s a portal to somewhere else. This is the gesture attached to that portal.”
By Jeremy Thomas jethomas@bayareanewsgroup.com
It would be fun to collect photos of people’s shoes as they cross any threshold. Are there places in your Work in Progress where a character can #swalwell?
Hada believes when she leaves the plane, it is a portal to chaotic family problems and would rather stay home. She and Lev won’t be swalwelling since they don’t carry iPhones or cameras.
