What does it mean when a pair of shoes is hanging from power lines or telephone wires?
by 
James D
ANSWERS: 58
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There are all kinds of explanations for it, but the most obvious one is that somebody threw them up there for fun. Here is an article about it: http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/sneakers.htm Some explanations: It's gang activity, bullies, crack dealers advertising, a memorial to a murdered kid, something a kid does when he moves away, etc. There's no definitive answer.
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Shoes, tied together are uniquely configured to hook themselves around power lines or any other wire in the sky. This is immediately obvious to any young person who maybe carrying shoes to trainning or school. So the challenge is greater than any consiquence like having to buy a new pair. It is also an obvious choice for any bully to inflict loss and humiliation on someone less poweerfull than themselves.
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It is often a sign of a tinny or drugs house but people do just throw up shoes for fun.
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Actually, when you see a pair of shoes hanging over power lines it means "School is out for Summer". As kids we always kept a pair of tennis shoes, sneakers or whatever we are calling them these days in our school locker for gym class or we would switch into them from our winter boots. Anyways, at the end of the school year we felt that we didnt need them anymore so we tied the laces together and threw them over the power lines. I dont know who or how this got started but i started school in 1965 in the Boston, MA. area and its been going for atleast that long.
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well I remember asking this in dare class but the local police around here say its to mark diffrent gang territories also it can advertise a crack house or a drug dealers house. I've neaver heard of any of the other things thats new to me. But thats just what the police in my neighbor hood say thats what the shoes mean.
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i heard that it is a drug selling location - a cop once told me the police would look for shoes on wires for drug locations and then wait till dark , usually 11:00- 21:00 and see the drugs sold and then bust the people. but he sais some are just diversions so they dont know where the real drug locations are..
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Actually, this occurs in lower neighborhoods, where dumpster are not readaily available. after the shoes have run their course, its time for them to be pitched away........and where do they land? on the power lines, of course!! its just lazy begots lazy. end
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I think that in many cases it doesn't mean anything. Although, you could interpret it to mean that you are in a bad neighboorhood where vandalism occurs and the city services don't clean up that kind of thing.
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It usually means that some poor kid's shoes have been pinched and tossed over the wires to put them out of his or her reach. Other reasons include throwing away old footwear and alcohol-fueled challenges to throw something accurately while the ground is spinning round.
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We throw our combat boots onto power lines as we get out of the service. Kind of like we don't need these anymore.
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Perhaps God feels you need a new pair of shoes?
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That the owner was too lazy to throw them in a dumpster.
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The shoes are there to attract insects. love bugs, mosquitoes etc....because of the bacteria left over by a fungi foot, it keeps the insects away from the house. It's true...
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beware: people in that neighbourhood are very bored.
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They are put their by aliens when they're taking a break from crop circles, and that's a fact!!
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they were thrown up there after taken out of a car that was stolen but is now found
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that someone needs to get a new pair of shoes
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I think it is so we ALL ASK "WHY ARE THERE SHOES HANGING OVER THAT WIRE"
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It means that some ghetto little kids in you neighborhood were bored.
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it means that there are drug dealers in the house or drugs in the house
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i know somepoeple that do its not nice and i dont see the point,
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In the military, you hang your boots to signify that you are leaving the military.
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Have a look below them next time you may see a crispy body with its toes sticking out :o)
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originally that was a sign to show that you could buy drugs on that street. It was done as a code. I know police now know what it meant so why they still do it from time to time, I am sure has a different meaning.
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I see that around colleges. Must be a thing thats done by the highly educated. Must have some profound meaning.
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Nike are testing their new Shox trainers.
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I always thought some kids did it with other kids' shoes just to be mean. But I've heard that it can represent that a young man has just lost his virginity, or that it can represent a place to buy drugs.
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I agree with the folks who basically said " It means some threw them up there." But I am intrigued by the mismatched pairs I sometimes see.
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The last day of school.
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it means some schoolie has been very stupid indeed...
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Ummm, my question is this: How do they get them UP there?!?? I have noticed a pair of shoes on power lines above a main highway, and the lines are veerrrry high. I can't picture anyone just randomly tossing a pair of shoes up there and actually make it. So, how do they do that over a main highway!? Inquiring minds want to know...LOL!
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It means someone wants Willie "The Old Shoe" Schumann brought home from the war in Albania. (If you've never seen Wag the Dog, you should.)
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i always thaught that it ment that there was a drug seller near by...??
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Basically a gang member has marked his site. I had alot of fun testing the alingment of my rifle scopes on those.
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I always thought that it ment that some asshole kids live there and if you cant kick their asses you lose your shoes lol. Sry. I seriously thought that. But the drug selling concept is interesting. Makes sense.
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Oh And in the movie BIG FISH they did that so you would stay in the town. If you havent seen it watch it. If you have, then you know what im talking about. lol
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I thought I heard that they were put up there by gypsies to give directions to the park or place where the next meeting area was going to be. That's why you see them out in the middle of nowhere sometimes. There were certain times when the clan would meet, and the families would follow the trail of shoes on the line until they found the field or meadow where the camp would be set up.
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I heard it meant somebody got jumped, or initiated into a gang.
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idk for some reason i tought bcuz someone died and they just threw it up for 'memory' lol...
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In my area it means that drugs are sold.
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I bet it means someone took someone elses sneakers and threw them on the power line, just to be mean.
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Children steal somebodies shoes, tie the laces together and throw them to dangle over the power lines to the kid they took them from can't get them back and he has to tell his parent is lost his shoes.
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I've been noticing, they seem to mark certain entrances to..rather seedy places. Was wondering if anyone else noticed this.
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"GHETTO"
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I heard about this recently and they said that it meant that there is someplace close where drugs are sold! Hence, the othere answer that it begins a seedy place
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Rather old prank.
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i heard in the ghetto...it actually means somebody has passed away.
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I thought it was marking gang territory.
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Because its very easy to get them up there, And very hard to get them down.
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Some people claim it means a drug dealer is living nearby, I think it's just because people have spare shoes and it's not possible to get them down again so it's a laugh
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Kids used to,and I guess still carry their running shoes home with them.Years ago they brought a pair of running shoes for gym class.The easy way to carry them was to tie them together.As a joke bullies or friends would grab them and through them over power lines.So now you would have to buy another pair.
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In our town it's a signal it's a "drug hot spot". A place you can buy or sell.
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Years of tight rope walking that went wrong.....
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Now that's a good time!=D
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here it means that a gang has taken over or somebody died - it means we gotta keep moving before it gets dark
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Gang territory..Beware
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they sale drugs there
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in cincinnati it means that a drug house has been compromised, and it is a warning to the buyers to stay away from the drug house. And also to the supplier that the house was raided.
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