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sneakers dangling from powerlines

Rogue

New Member
Hey I hoped some of our US members could help me on this one.

Obviously some poeple in the USA are dangling their sneakers from powerlines and I don't have a clue why. So I googled it and this thing is not connected to gang teritory or any other sort of crime. Furthermore I found a bunch of weird theories but actually nobody seems to know why people do it.

So has anyone of you done it or do you know why others did it?

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There are places in cities where sneakers hanging from wires indicate that's an area where drugs can be bought.

edit: at least that's the urban legend I heard...not experienced in this field....
 
maybe it's just a kids way of "gettin' at the man".... littering that's much harder to clean up...zzzzzzztttttt :eek:
 
When I was growing up a neighbor kid was angry at his little brother and threw the younger brother's shoes into the powerlines like that.
 
there are sneaks haning from the powerlines down by my corner store and i never gave it a second thought. i just assumed it was a dumb kid thing like flipping the swing over the bar.
 
jenngorham said:
there are sneaks haning from the powerlines down by my corner store and i never gave it a second thought. i just assumed it was a dumb kid thing like flipping the swing over the bar.

That's most likely exactly what it is. And in the case of there being more than one pair—well, the other kids wanted to be cool too.
 
yup my thoughts exactly. the age betweeen 14 and legal bar age is sketchy as those kids have no where to go and hang, so they just do stupid shit that they feel is highly original and rebellious, when in fact it is neither. grafitti is another big one here.
 
Isn't that what I said in post #4???? Come on rogue, how come you're not tellin' them to stop guess'n???? huh???huh???? :cool:
 
i think it is one of those things that may have had meaning at one point, but that meaning is lost but the act still happens. like pants below the bum with a belt. and celebrity marriages. :D
 
according to an artical in my local newspaper:

"Sneakers mark drug deals, mayor says By ADAM TAYLOR Staff reporter Wilmington work crews began removing sneakers from utility wires this week because Mayor James M. Baker thinks they are placed there by drug dealers to mark their turf."

So maybe the urban legend crew is f'd up, or maybe the mayor of the city where I live is, but I do believe there might be some small tidbit of truth to the idea. Maybe not in all cases, but there's usually some truth in all rumors isn't there?
 
ok but then how does one find out where the drugs are? and what is the area covered by the sneakers. like a 500 meter diameter or what? not that i want drugs.
 
Maybe some stupid kids put some shoes up there, took a picture, and put it on the internet just for something to do. Or maybe they wanted to cause some chaos and thought that was the best way because of the whole drug thing. Who knows.
 
Motokid said:
according to an artical in my local newspaper:

"Sneakers mark drug deals, mayor says By ADAM TAYLOR Staff reporter Wilmington work crews began removing sneakers from utility wires this week because Mayor James M. Baker thinks they are placed there by drug dealers to mark their turf."

So maybe the urban legend crew is f'd up, or maybe the mayor of the city where I live is, but I do believe there might be some small tidbit of truth to the idea. Maybe not in all cases, but there's usually some truth in all rumors isn't there?

Hey Motokid,

Did you read the article about the "Drug Lord" that lived in the $350,000 house?
One of the properties he owned was across the street from me. I called the cops 4 times on the guy across the street (various incidents of domestic disturbance) and told them to search the house for drugs. They blew me off at first but later told me that they were on to him and asked me to copy license plate #'s of drug buyers who frequented the residence. Apparently he rented several places out to flunkies who sold drugs.
 
I don't think the sneakers mean anything. At least, not in my city. There doesn't seem to be much connection to anything, except that bored teens who want to look tough live around there. If anything, it signifies that you're in bad territory and you should watch out.
 
Sneakers on powerlines was really much more common around 10 years ago, at least in NY. My take on it was that it was in the same category as the wedgie--just something you either do to another kid or just do for the heck of it, especially if you just win a game or lose the season or feel like doing it. I've never heard anything druggie attached to it. I've seen kids throwing their sneakers up there, trying to wrap them. Usually they are just little knuckleheads who think it's funny. Maybe like a tame, easy version of graffitti--you drive by and say to a kid, those are my sneakers up there, like that's my tag.
 
Rogue said:
Obviously some poeple in the USA are dangling their sneakers from powerlines and I don't have a clue why. So I googled it and this thing is not connected to gang teritory or any other sort of crime. Furthermore I found a bunch of weird theories but actually nobody seems to know why people do it.

So has anyone of you done it or do you know why others did it?

I have dangled sneakers from powerlines. As far as I know it is something kids do to be assinine. I did it because our neighbor was over, picking on my littlest brother. So, I went down, beat the bag out of him and threw his shoes over the powerline so he could not get them. It was probably 8-10 years ago, so I am not sure what the ultimate resolution was. I probably had to buy new ones or something.
 
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