The Meaning Behind Shoes Hanging on Power Lines
“Why Are There Shoes Hanging from Power Lines?”
I have been looking forward to the questions that my child will start asking me in the near future; these are the kinds of things that I am attempting to work on improving my ability to answer, such as “why is the sky blue?”
My son surprised me with one of them while we were out on a stroll yesterday, although this particular one did not require any questions about the atmosphere.
It has become a habit for him to look up into the sky in order to identify groups of birds and airplanes. A fresh thing caught his attention yesterday.
Daddy, I don’t understand why there are shoes in the trees.
The answer to one of the fascinating questions that has a lot of people living in cities scratching their brains will be as follows.
Why are there shoes hanging from trees? As a result of the fact that we have buried power lines in our area, he has not noticed the ones that are falling from power wires due to the wind.
I remember the super of my building telling me that when people move out of an area, they sling their shoes up there. This happened when I was a youngster growing up in the Bronx. “When neighbors move out, this is the way they say ‘I’ve lived here,'” he remarked, offering a paraphrase of his original statement.
I took him to heart for a number of years.
However, a great deal of debunking has taken place. In addition, the more that is disproved, the more the mystery turns into a puzzle that requires one to think it over.
The assertion that “Old running shoes hanging from trees and power lines are gang signs” was addressed by Snopes in the year 2011.
To name just a few of the ideas that have been proposed over the course of time:
Gangs are responsible for using this method to demarcate the limits of their area.
The ultimate form of bullying is when bullies take them away from innocent children and then fling them up high, out of reach.
Members of the gang establish a memorial in the form of a casual memorial at the location where a friend was killed.
As a means of publicizing their presence in the community, crack traffickers will adorn wires with signs.
These shoes improve the visibility of wires for airplanes flying at low altitudes.
It is common for boys who have recently lost their virginity or who have otherwise reached a significant sexual milestone to look overly inflated in order to announce the event to others.
Seniors who are graduating from high school symbolize this period of transition in their life by leaving something of themselves behind, specifically their shoes.
Just because it’s fun, children engage in it. Aside from that, what else are you going to do with a pair of sneakers that are worn out than tying the laces together and throwing them high?
Even the ever-reliable City Lab acknowledges that the myth is difficult to explain, despite the fact that the article draws attention to the item on Wikipedia that describes “shoe tossing.”
For the time being, before you entirely give up hope, we would like to suggest that you watch The Mystery of Flying Kicks, a short film that was shot in Australia by Closer Productions.
Roadside America is gathering information about the “shoe trees” that can be found in Middlegate, Nevada, Beaver, Arkansas, and other locations across the United States.
One of the sources who provided information to RA stated that “the first pair was thrown during a wedding night argument by a young couple; later, their children’s shoes were added to the bough.” Middlegate was the location of the incident.
Therefore, what is the most appropriate response to provide to a little boy who is curious about the reason?
It is necessary for my son and I to catch someone in the act. Even though it could take years, I will consider it a bonding exercise between my father and my son.
Take the myth to heart, young gentleman. In addition, produce more of your own.
