Why do people throw sneakers over power lines? I've had a quick search through Google, and the urban myths suggest that it means anything from "gang activity" to a symbol of losing your virginity or simply leaving home. I'm particularly interested if it means anything in Vietnamese or Greek culture, as I've seen it all over the place in Richmond (VIC) Australia.
Yeah that's one of the urban myth explanations that I've read. It's just weird that it seems to be concentrated in particular areas/streets - unless it's a bully stronghold Seems like a lot of trouble to go to just to bully someone.
I think people find the power lines as a safe place to store their "precious products" so that none will ever venture to steal it. A practice worth to follow
Still not a good enough answer to satisfy me - those dudes in The Power Company cherry picker must collect a truck load of "precious products" ....
kids around here just do it for fun, it usually means the sneakers are old and they want to show them off and the entire neighborhood would knows who it was. Preety simple these days, NYC here. Plus kids really do it here when school is over and they toss them up...
I think there was a time when it marked the location of a drug dealer, since those pesky laws prevent them from putting a sign on their front yard advertising their "business." After the meaning became popularized and therefore no longer a secret symbol I think people just started to do it because it was a neat way to get rid of old shoes and scare affluent people from moving into the neighborhood.
This is the truth: Many don't know, but people in the ghetto have the ability to fly. This is why you will commonly see them wearing light blue or white, so they can blend in with the sky. The shoes you see hanging on the power lines are just a result of what happens when they fly too close to the power lines.
I know people do this around here to mark a drug dealers house so they can easily find it next time they come back.
I've read this on lots of sites, but it doesn't really make sense to me. So they carry around a spare pair of shoes in their car? I'm starting to get the terrible feeling that there is no real answer
there prob is no real answer anymore....i do believe it started to mark drug dealer houses, but this was more in the lowerclass areas, as us upperclass know where to buy the drugs lol j/k (please this was seriously a joke!) i think once it was known, like said above, that kids started doing it for fun, and "retiring" their old shoes.
actually its to test the intelligence of a domestic bird... if it can retrieve it, its smart, if not dumb one (up for sale)
I have not seen it in a long time until last week. I saw a pair on power lines behind a muffler shop.