Although I don’t think the phenomenon is quite as common now as it was when I was a kid, you’ve likely been walking or driving through a neighborhood only to see a pair of sneakers tied together by the shoelaces and tossed up on to a power line. I always assumed this was just something neighborhood kids did from time to time, but had no idea that there were so many theories about the meaning behind this behavior.
The first theory takes us all the way back to wartime days when soldiers would apparently toss their boots when they had completed their training or completed their post. Maybe this symbolism is where all other theories originated from? Who knows. There’s also a common belief that tossing shoes up on a power line is a way for gangs to mark their territory and warn others gangs to stay away. However, this theory has never exactly been proven.