Seattlest: Sneakers on the Power Lines, Sandwich in Our Pants

TroyJMorris

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:30:24 -0800

See -- it IS about sex! I knew it! Isn't it always?

cynicali

Thu, 08 May 2008 07:30:53 -0800

I always knew it to be an area where one could score drugs. As for the argument that cops would then just go and stake the location out to look for the drug dealers, well that's just silly. In most large cities the cops know where drugs are sold and often times who sells them. I was always told that the sneakers alerted the white-collar addicts and suburban high school kids as to what block of the shady neighborhood they needed to be cruising.

mbq

Thu, 08 May 2008 01:08:05 -0800

Quil Ceda nailed it. But, then again, I'm older than any two of you added together.

Caffienated Penguin

Wed, 07 May 2008 21:55:01 -0800

I always assumed it was just a bully thing... kinda makes me think though because my neighborhood has lot of those heh.

Katelyn

Wed, 07 May 2008 21:46:56 -0800

See -- it IS about sex! I knew it!

Eco Geek

Wed, 07 May 2008 21:10:59 -0800

In McMahon Dorm at UW you were supposed to throw a pair of shoes into a tree or on the lines the first time you got laid in the dorm.

LarryB

Wed, 07 May 2008 19:31:44 -0800

In Brooklyn, it just meant that someone got a new pair of sneakers.

Kim Ruehl

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:11:13 -0800

when i lived in the hood in nola, i was told that the shoes on the wires meant you could score near there. which seemed silly, because wouldn't the cops figure that out and just stake the place out?

vanderleun

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:58:37 -0800

"shoved the sandwich down our pants, " You're just the Sandy Berger of the Seattlest.

TroyJMorris

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:05:48 -0800

When I was growing up, I heard the drug thing. No idea if it's a myth or not, but considering a good deal of drug dealers are idiots, chances are it now means that. Man, I hope someone doesn't threaten me on this thread too.

Simonian

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:52:14 -0800

So if shoes hanging in the air freak you out, this ought to really get to you, Jack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZjNREiBFWE or just google "nevada shoe tree" and be boggled at humanity's weirdness.

aineko

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:50:36 -0800

haha @ belltown crackheads. i see some absolutely bonkers crap in my alley that i wish was on video. anywho.. what about all the beatings? in addition to all the belltown/u-district cases where people are seemingly randomly attacked.. i work with three people who have all been randomly punched in the face within the last two years. i hear about these random punches and fights so often that i wonder when it'll happen to me.

Quil Ceda

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:49:29 -0800

dang bro. it used to be when you jumped someone you took their kicks and tossed them up on the lines. show your tough and all. it dont mean jack now because that was like the 80's and nothing but little whitebois doing junk like that throwback style but it dont mean nothing.

Jack

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:32:19 -0800

It's a sandwich, but I'm sure you're a lovely woman.

Lake City in the House

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:31:11 -0800

Shoes in on power poles? Why? Why? Even the mighty Snopes doesn't know... http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/sneakers.asp I guess it will mean what ever we fear most... rorschach test for urban anxiety.

GroundedGirl

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:28:33 -0800

I'm probably in a goofy mood, but "sandwich in our pants" is the funniest dang thing I've heard today. It begs for repetition-- "Sandwich in our pants! Sandwich in our pants!" Is that a sandwich in your pants or are you just happy to see me?

RMH

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:27:57 -0800

I grew up in northern California and was taught that it meant someone had been killed near where the shoes were hanging. Frankly, I don't think it actually means anything anymore.

aineko

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:27:12 -0800

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_tossing in chicago i took them as a general indicator of gang territory. not a specific gang, but more "be careful what area you're about to enter". i see them a lot on capitol hill, and don't think they indicate deal spots. they usually look to be the style of your typical local trendwhore.

fuzzirella

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:24:58 -0800

I grew up in Tucson and was told that the shoes hanging from the phone line meant that there was a drug dealer living in the area.

Saxtor

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:22:21 -0800

Also, I've been watching for the awesome SpudNuts sign to show up on the Flickr feed, which is right next door to "JAX."

Saxtor

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:19:32 -0800

I think the the whole shoes on wires is generally a myth, and people just like throwing shows on wires. I could be wrong though... And I find the BelltownCrime videos funny, especially of the group who noticed him/her and waved up, and went back to smoking crack. I used to have an unobstructed view from my office of the backside South Hwy99 onramp at Blanchard before they put up the big fence. I called it CrackheadTV because at any moment, if I needed a workday pick-me-up, I could wander over there and peer down to get my visual fix. I saw EVERYTHING, most of which I'd rather not recount. BelltownCrime is tame in comparison.

Fangirl

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:14:55 -0800

So then logically, cops should throw sneakers in areas they are staking out so they can arrest more people for either thinking it's okay to deal drugs and/or gang banging.

Katelyn

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:14:45 -0800

WHAT? No! You flash your headlights at them to tell them the cops are nearby!

Megs_Elyse

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:09:38 -0800

I had always heard that it meant that it was gang territory. I was also raised with the idea that you never flash your headlights at anyone who is driving without his/her lights on because it was a form of gang initiation. If you did, the gang member would turn around and run you off the road and kill you. Oh the bedtime stories my parents would tell me ...

Katelyn

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:04:39 -0800

I can't believe you used the word crotch. Amazing. I've never heard this explanation for the shoes, I heard that it was people who had gotten laid or something and threw their shoes up there. To... prove it... or something. It's all kind of cloudy in my head.

ronaldholden

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:41:18 -0800

Have you seen this? http://youtube.com/user/BelltownCrime http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f227gLzT_YM