Shoe's on powerlines.

TheInterceptor · 12-06-2011, 10:14 PM

Evening all,

I was chatting to a mate tonight and the topic came up that "when there are shoes on powerlines, it means there is a drug dealer there/nearby."

Ive heard this being said many many times before.

Sounds like morons playing stupid buggers to me. Any truth behind it? Must have come from somwhere..?

DBourne · 12-06-2011, 10:25 PM

It is what I heard as well. Not that I'm saying it's correct, just validating that I've heard that too.

WMD351 · 12-06-2011, 10:32 PM

There's a few urban myths about what it means.
Drug dealer, murder nearby, marking gang turf, etc.
Personally I believe the one that says it means some poor bugger just got beat up and had his shoes thrown up there so that he'd have to walk home barefoot.

GS608 · 12-06-2011, 11:01 PM

Yep have heard that as well, there is always a few pairs of shoes hanging over the power lines at the skate park down the road, and around the corner just after a causeway on the creek, seems an unlikely place to make drug deals.

ea90gl · 12-06-2011, 11:08 PM

Always wondered this myself, here's abit of a read

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_to...shoefiti.22.29

AUIIPURSUIT · 12-06-2011, 11:08 PM

meant to mean so in america in days gone by. now its just aussie rats thinking they are in the ghetto.

Scott · 12-06-2011, 11:09 PM

When I moved into my place, within a couple of days someone had thrown a pair of sneakers in the power line out front.

My brand new neighbour, with whom my only discussion was about the fact that I worked from home and my wife would be moving in soon, approached me about them.

She was obviously "feeling me out" as some young guy turned up in a new black GT, moved into a large house all by himself, said he worked from home, had some story about why he was there all alone and then the shoes appeared.

I broke out a stick of conduit and removed them straight away.

All my googling could tell me was a hundred different theories behind what it might mean. All I knew was I didn't need to make a name for myself before I even started.

svo supporter · 12-06-2011, 11:45 PM

I reckon it's a myth. Round my area, I've seen shoes on the power lines. The shoes are small. Considering I haven't seen any midgets around my area and plenty of kids, I'll lay money on kids shoes. So that'll dispell a turf marking theory for the drug lords.

Then you can add in, 30+ years ago, when was a kid, we used to do stupid things like that too.

jaydee · 12-06-2011, 11:45 PM

This is not a new phenomenon, it's been going on for yonks.
My understanding is it's kids trying to arc out the power lines and cause a blackout.

baboon · 13-06-2011, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaydee

This is not a new phenomenon, it's been going on for yonks.
My understanding is it's kids trying to arc out the power lines and cause a blackout.

The kids used to use bike chains I think?

dave351cid · 13-06-2011, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baboon

The kids used to use bike chains I think?

they still do

fmc351 · 05-07-2011, 03:01 AM

Like many things, it will have varying meanings for those who are involved. We used to do it. Some kid would take his shoes off for some reason and some other b4stard would just tie them together and throw them up there. Boredom, tools, to be ******, any or all of the above.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave351cid

they still do

Back when I was a teenager, there was a long length of wire between two poles across a creek (largish gully too) and the poles were supported by guy wires. If enough teenagers could get a hold of the conduit covering the guy wire and we could time it right, push, pull, push, pull etc we often got wires swinging in the middle to touch, spark and sometimes throw the power off. If it didnt work someone nearly always resorted to throwing a bike chain over a couple of the power wires.

Yeah we thought that was a great lark. Boredom.

charles_wif_xf · 12-06-2011, 11:46 PM

I know on one particular street, the shoes on the power lines indicated that the occupant was 'easy', if one catches my drift

TC200six · 12-06-2011, 11:53 PM

This is something I haven't noticed for a long time. There's a skate park in Thornlands along the main road to Victoria Point and there has always been shoes hanging on the wires there.

Scott · 12-06-2011, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charles_wif_xf

I know on one particular street, the shoes on the power lines indicated that the occupant was 'easy', if one catches my drift

That's terrible, some good citizen should pull them down... damn it, I'll do it. Which street?

charles_wif_xf · 13-06-2011, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott

That's terrible, some good citizen should pull them down... damn it, I'll do it. Which street?

In Melb Scott, don't worry, I'm on the job ;)

prydey · 13-06-2011, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charles_wif_xf

In Melb Scott, don't worry, I'm on the job ;)

boom tish!

Jim Goose · 13-06-2011, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charles_wif_xf

I know on one particular street, the shoes on the power lines indicated that the occupant was 'easy', if one catches my drift

OMO packet in window or on front stairs....

GTPete · 13-06-2011, 10:35 AM

We have no power lines where I live.... What does that mean?

Scott · 13-06-2011, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

OMO packet in window or on front stairs....

OMO brought in, FAB's out now.

dave351cid · 13-06-2011, 12:02 AM

as a power line worker we find all kinds of things on the wires.

personally i think most of the shoes would be thrown up there by kids so that their "mates / victims" would have to walk home with no shoes and buy new ones.

Geez Louise · 13-06-2011, 12:22 AM

This has been going on for years! When we were kids we used to throw them up on the power lines...just to see if we could. My brother lost so many shoes

I have heard the rumours it now stands for something else, a bit like the old stories if a house has a red front door, it is a house of ill repute (for want of a better discription) and yet some newer houses are now made with red front doors.

Every generation has it's own meanings to things...I just laugh whenever I see shoes tied up and thrown over power lines...reminds me of how mad we made my older brother...

Franco Cozzo · 14-06-2011, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geez Louise

a bit like the old stories if a house has a red front door, it is a house of ill repute (for want of a better discription)\

Isn't it red light? A house with ladies of dubious virtue.

**GasoLane** · 14-06-2011, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Isn't it red light? A house with ladies of dubious virtue.

Or as Terry Pratchett writes, "Ladies of negotiable affection"

Geez Louise · 13-06-2011, 12:32 AM

We also use to throw these things we had called - Click clacks - if I remember correctly ( I am old ya know

) up onto power lines.

It was a "toy" that was basically two pool balls connected by rope with a plastic tab and you would bounce the two balls against each other. They were great when you got them to "click and clack" but when they hit your wrist...OH BOY!! I can understand why they banned them!

I think at one stage there was about 10 of those things on the power lines out front of our house! They are worth a fortune now...Who would have guessed it.

svo supporter · 13-06-2011, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geez Louise

We also use to throw these things we had called - Click clacks - if I remember correctly ( I am old ya know

) up onto power lines.

It was a "toy" that was basically two pool balls connected by rope with a plastic tab and you would bounce the two balls against each other. They were great when you got them to "click and clack" but when they hit your wrist...OH BOY!! I can understand why they banned them!

I think at one stage there was about 10 of those things on the power lines out front of our house! They are worth a fortune now...Who would have guessed it.

Not that old. I remember them.

(Not the correct name though) Or should I say, remember the pain from them hitting the wrist all the time or Mum and Dad screaming at me for waking them up, playing with them

Like everything from those days. If only we knew they'd be worth a fortune these days, we wouldn't have thrown stuff like that out.

Geez Louise · 13-06-2011, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by svo supporter

Not that old. I remember them.

(Not the correct name though) Or should I say, remember the pain from them hitting the wrist all the time or Mum and Dad screaming at me for waking them up, playing with them

Like everything from those days. If only we knew they'd be worth a fortune these days, we wouldn't have thrown stuff like that out.

I did a search on evilbay for Click clacks and what do you know! Someone is reproducing them...

And they have called them click clacks...so someone else remembers them as that too...

FgNewbie · 13-06-2011, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geez Louise

I did a search on evilbay for Click clacks and what do you know! Someone is reproducing them...

And they have called them click clacks...so someone else remembers them as that too...

I remember "click clacks". I vaguely remember them being in an Easter showbag too.

My wrist was ok, others bits weren't so lucky

JG65TE · 13-06-2011, 01:07 AM

the shoes for drugs thing at least around here is true.

smally289 · 13-06-2011, 07:21 AM

Never heard a reason behind shoes on power lines before. We used to hang a pair of sneakers (Adidas Romes!) in the trees above our campsite at Bathurst in the 80s, but that was only to mark the location of our BBQ plate that was buried in the ground underneath. Burying it saved hauling it 1,000km home only to have it sit in the shed for 12 months and then do the trip again. It was a heavy sucker!