What do sneakers on wires mean?

Most likely, many of you have at least once noticed a lonely pair of sneakers hanging on electrical wires. What is this strange phenomenon? Let's try to understand this fact. Why are they hanging there and, most importantly, what for. There are many opinions that are similar to the truth and not so much. Let's look at the most common ones, because the reason for the appearance of shoes on wires can be very different; they can vary in different countries.

What does the tradition of hanging sneakers on wires mean?

The phenomenon of shoes hanging on wires is interpreted ambiguously in different areas and in different cities. No one can answer for sure. All answers are based only on city rumors. The most widespread version is that this is how the place where drugs are traded is marked.

Where did the tradition of wired sneakers come from?

Most likely, the beginning of this custom comes from America, from those places where ghetto cultures are concentrated and means the following:

• This is how places where drugs are sold are marked.Dealers mark their stashes or the stash is located in the nearest house. And by the color of the sneakers and their style, you can determine the type of substance.
• In this way, the places of death of a person are marked.
• This is a kind of border of street gangs. If we take into account the first two versions, then such a place is clearly dangerous to stay in.
• These are simply sneakers taken from “white” people.

More legitimate explanations include the following:

• This is a kind of “funeral”. The custom is quite popular among African Americans from the ghetto. Sneakers are one of the main elements of their image and they treat them with reverence and respect. Most often this is common in rap culture, among basketball and streetball players. Once the sneakers have outlived their usefulness, they are simply thrown onto power lines for everyone to see.
• This is how graduation from an educational institution or demobilization is celebrated. In our country, this is popular among students of Akademgorodok from Novosibirsk, as well as among graduate fire fighters of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which is located at VDNKh.
• This is how victories, and even defeats, are celebrated by sports teams after the match.

Purely national domestic traditions of hooliganism:

• These are attempts to extract non-ferrous metal from electrical wires. Abandoned sneakers are designed to cause a short circuit. In this case, electricians turn off the voltage from the line to eliminate the breakdown, and attackers have the opportunity to “privatize” public wires.
• The desire to create a fireworks display. In other words, the same short circuit, but without criminal intent.
• Simple hooliganism. The desire to be like foreigners with their lifestyle.

Why do they hang sneakers on wires in different countries of the world?

Interesting and unusual traditions:

• Colombians believe that this helps cure the child.
• In Guatemala, bats are repelled this way.
• In Venezuela, they believe that if sneakers are thrown high, this is a sure sign that new ones will appear soon.
• This is how the Spaniards try to make it rain.
• And New Zealand hosts an annual shoe throwing competition!
• Americans supply residents of poor areas with clothes and shoes, as well as Coca-Cola. But food and water are not provided. Proud residents, despising these handouts, throw away the shoes they received.

There is a legend that is common among shufiti fans. Sneakers thrown onto the wires will help the spirit of a deceased person in his next life. That's why sometimes you can see completely new shoes on wires.

What do sneakers on wires mean in Russia?

If in America and in many other Western countries such a tradition has at least some socio-cultural basis, then in our country it is a simple tribute to aesthetics. There is no particular meaning to this - a simple attempt to reproduce in an accessible way the American picture of the ghetto. This approach gives more marginality to certain places.

Sneakers on wires as part of street culture

No matter how you look at it, sneakers hanging on wires are already part of the city’s subculture. And if you see this on the streets of Western cities, then all this is perceived closer to graffiti: as an additional opportunity for personal marking of the place in which a person has been. In Western countries, this has a more provocative appearance because it disrupts people’s usual way of life, and therefore they cannot feel safe in such places.

And, as a rule, sneakers can be found on wires in crime-prone areas, where there are many drug dealers and clusters of various subcultures.Although a similar picture can be seen in completely different places, in no way tied to such things.