sneakers on power lines

[brodel34]

was searching google for something and came across this page..
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_274.html

i was surprised to find out that you left out the fact that sneakers being hung from power lines usually and generally means someone has been murdered or has died. its common tradition in inner city urban areas, and parts of big cities with high volumes of violence to toss the shoes of those taken away.

[Uncommon Sense]

Originally Posted by brodel34

was searching google for something and came across this page..
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_274.html

i was surprised to find out that you left out the fact that sneakers being hung from power lines usually and generally means someone has been murdered or has died. its common tradition in inner city urban areas, and parts of big cities with high volumes of violence to toss the shoes of those taken away.

Oh, for heaven's sake.

I read in the newspaper that shoes would be thrown over the power lines to serve as a reminder/warning of a murder that occurred nearby. This seems proven to me: as I was traveling past a home in which a drug-related murder had occurred about three months prior . . . a pair of shoes were hanging from the power lines in front of the home.
Depending on what part of the country you are from, one shoe from a light post or sign represents the death of a gang member. Usually seen in the inner city.

That was from Cecil's piece.

[Askance]

Originally Posted by brodel34

i was surprised to find out that you left out the fact that sneakers being hung from power lines usually and generally means someone has been murdered or has died. its common tradition in inner city urban areas, and parts of big cities with high volumes of violence to toss the shoes of those taken away.

"The fact"? Bollocks. It may conceivably mean that on occasion, but it would "usually and generally" mean that some bored dude had an old pair of sneakers and thought it was a cool thing to do with them, having seen it like a million times before.

[Arnold Winkelried]

I mentioned this in a previous thread on the topic in my first days at the SDMB, but, inspired by Cecil's article, I visited the Arkansas show tree when I went to Arkansas a few years ago. I looked it up again and I see to my great dismay that the tree is no more (knocked down by a rainstorm on 6 May 2000)! But there are others.

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/roadside/shoetrees.htm