does shoes hanging on a telephone wire really mean there is drug activity in the area?

Question

you know the shoes always on the telephone wires (telephone oles) some one told me that it is a sign that drugs are in that neighborhood.

Answer 1

hmm I always thought it meant some lil kid got jumped and they threw his shoes up there lol

Answer 2

When I was in the military it was a loosely followed custom upon ending your term of service to throw a pair of boots onto a telephone wire to kinda "stick it to the man".

Living in a college town with no gang activity to speak of, I would also guess that it is a way to show completion of one's degree.

I did a quick search on Yahoo, and came up with this:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/factoids/a/sneakers.htm

The quick version is that no one really knows. Since there is no definitive answer, there is likely not any kind of standard symbolism.

My own gut intuition is:
It is simply a prank by teenagers or bored/drunk older people, much like ringing doors and running away, or prank telephone calls. There seems to be some local symbolism to this act, as it seems to mean different things in different places (my army base, different small towns, etc), it if means anything at all.

Probably not the definitive answer you were looking for, but that seems to be the best guess.

Answer 3

drug activity is everywhere! Shoes on a telephone wire just means that gym is taught nearby.

Answer 4

Not anymore. Drug and gang activity areas are so high- profile, they don't even waste time throwing shoes on the wire. They just stand out on the corner. It's really sad.

Answer 5

I am laughing my head off, I would say you live in a strange place because there are drugs everywhere these days and I have never seen a pair of shoes hanging on a wire lol
Sounds like an old wives tale to me, all though I have never heard of it lol

Answer 6

That's one I've never heard before. But it doesn't make sense. I've seen shoes hanging from phone wires in all kinds of neighborhoods.

Answer 7

It can mean 3 things....

Gang Activity, drugs, or... kids who thought it would be cool to toss and old pair of shoes on a wire. I did this when I was young. It becomes a challenge to do it, when you toss it up and they fall back down.... the shoes must hang!

Answer 8

I know in the military if the combat boots are on the wire then they just got out of the service. Other than that I have never heard of that. I would assume something of the same sort.

Answer 9

It does where I come from, and if you hear something like a loud firecracker or car backfiring in the same area it's usually a sign that the dealer has a new shipment in.

Answer 10

it doesnt mean that at all. shoes have been hanging off of telephone lines for as long as i can remember. at least 35 years

Answer 11

No. It normally means a loved one or a close friend has recently passed away or is going to be incarcerated for a period of time.