No matter where you're from, it's likely that you've stumbled across a pair of shoes dangling from the power lines. Like stray shopping carts, band posters and cigarette butts, they're practically part of the scenery. But why?
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Like all deep philosophical questions, you won't find any easy answers here. Instead, I'll present you with the 5 most popular theories so that you can make up your own mind.
Bullying
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According to this theory, shoe tossing is a distinct form of bullying where the victim not only has their shoes stolen, but is also left with an enduring reminder of their loss. On the surface this theory makes a good deal of sense, given that kids can be incredibly cruel and that the pain of losing a new pair of shoes is undeniable. However this theory has a critical flaw: the majority of shoes seen dangling on the power lines are adult sized. Either this is a form of bullying that kids never grow out of, or there's something else at play.
Milestones
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The idea here is that instead of being tossed out of spite, shoes are tossed out of joy and elation. Whether it's to celebrate the completion of basic training in the military, graduation from high school, or even loss of virginity, a pair of shoes linked with the memory being preserved is left dangling like a commemorative ribbon. While accounts of these celebratory flings are easy to find online, they're nearly always the subject of a "friend of a friend", like so many urban legends.
Gang Territory
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Fears that gang turf is often marked out by the strategic placement of shoes on power lines appear to be fairly common. In parts of Los Angeles these concerns were so great that in 2003, Mayor Hahn declared a zero-tolerance policy on dangling shoes. Photos of the mayor next to piles of liberated shoes made for a powerful photo in the L.A city newsletter, but there's no evidence that the issue had any effect on the delegation of gang territory.
Drug Dealer Code
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In a similar vein, it's often whispered that shoes are used to mark houses where a prospective buyer can score drugs. Some variations of this idea even go as far as ascribing specific types of shoes to specific drugs, such as tennis shoes for crack cocaine. A kind of hieroglyphic street-code. This theory could very well be true, given that similar codes such as the use of colored keychain flashlights have been reported as being legitimate. But if this is the case, what type of drug does a pair of flippers demarcate? Dangling shoes come in all shapes and sizes, and are reported in neighborhoods both rich and poor, suggesting that the phenomenon is most likely broader than a signal for drug houses. And if this mystery could be solved so easily, it's likely that police would use the shoes as a means to target houses being marked as vending drugs.
Shoefiti
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Perhaps the most compelling explanation of shoe tossing is afforded by occam's razor: people throw shoes over power lines because they can. For the creative (or perhaps just bored) minds of perpetual shoe-tossers, a power line may present itself as a blank canvass in the sky. Like so many water fountains jammed with gum, and trains covered in pseudonymous signatures, shoes are tossed to leave a mark on the world and to be noticed for the sake of being noticed.
Article by @capra
Do you have a story about shoes on power lines? Let me know in the comments!
I know the drug delivery theory, interesting post
Thanks @ivanic : D