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You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > MacNN Lounge > Have you committed shoefiti? The mystery of shoe tossing

Have you committed shoefiti? The mystery of shoe tossing
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hart
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Nov 13, 2011, 08:52 PM
 
So I finally remembered to look this up when I got home and I am none the wiser.

Shoe tossing (throwing tied pairs of shoes over phone wires and lamp posts), apparently known, as per Wikipedia, as shoefiti: what's the deal with that? Wikipedia basically says "no one knows, here's a bunch of theories." Shoe tossing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So I'm wondering if anyone has personal experience with this phenomenon. It seems mysteriously universal so someone must have participated in a shoe-tossing related incident. Any youthful miscreants out there?

     
iMOTOR
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Nov 13, 2011, 09:00 PM
 
Growing up, we were told that it was a sign that someone was selling drugs nearby. Haven’t seen one for ages.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Nov 13, 2011, 09:19 PM
 
I used to see a lot of shoes in Liverpool back when I was at Uni.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
Demonhood
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Nov 13, 2011, 09:24 PM
 
I saw it with a pair of kids shoes (probably for a boy of 3-5) near where I live. Those drug dealing toddlers are out of control.
     
reader50
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Nov 13, 2011, 09:27 PM
 
I've seen this rarely, and long figured the shoes belong to someone else. ie - swipe someone's shoes and put them somewhere high in the air. Where they can see it, but would need a fire truck or the Force to get them down.
     
gradient
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Nov 13, 2011, 09:40 PM
 
There are shoes all over the power/telephone lines where I live (downtown apartment). Damned if I know who tosses them up there, though I've also heard the drug dealer rumour in the past. I don't tend to believe that that's the reason, but who knows; I've wondered about it myself more than a few times.
     
iMOTOR
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Nov 13, 2011, 09:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by Demonhood View Post
I saw it with a pair of kids shoes (probably for a boy of 3-5) near where I live. Those drug dealing toddlers are out of control.
Dave Chapelle-Baby On The Corner - YouTube
     
imitchellg5
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Nov 13, 2011, 09:58 PM
 
Most of the time that I've seen it has been in the complete middle of nowhere.
     
jmiddel
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Nov 13, 2011, 10:49 PM
 
I have not, but it seems that it could a fun game of skill. Albeit expensive.
     
hart  (op)
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Nov 14, 2011, 08:04 AM
 
If it's drug dealers then they are on every single street corner here. Shoes seem to have a rather inconvenient half life so if you change corners they're still hanging there on your old corner. Doesn't seem practical as a sign.

I always assumed it was bullying. Steal some kid's shoes and throw them up there so he can't get them.

Someone has to actually be doing the shoe tossing. Where are the personal testimonials? Or are shoe tossers just not internet types?
     
seanc
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Nov 20, 2011, 07:25 PM
 
How many times do the shoes get tossed in the air, come back down and clobber someone on the head before you get them wrapped around the object?
     
andi*pandi
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Nov 20, 2011, 10:44 PM
 
I assumed it was bullying/pranking/frat boys.

It's also pretty universal, I mean, they did it to Luna Lovegood's shoes in Harry Potter.
     
Thorzdad
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Nov 21, 2011, 09:27 AM
 
I've never seen it here in Indiana, but I've long noticed that filmmakers and tv shows seem to use the image of shoes having been tossed as shorthand for "somewhere in an old neighborhood in NYC/Boston/Philly/etc."
     
   
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