<P> Shoe dangling, or shoe flinging, is the practice of throwing shoes whose shoelaces have been tied together so that they hang from overhead wires such as power lines or telephone cables . Once the shoes are tied together, the pair is then thrown at the wires as a sort of bolas . </P> <P> Shoe flinging occurs throughout North America, Latin America and Europe, in rural as well as in urban areas . Usually, the shoes flung at the wires are sneakers; many different varieties of shoes, including leather shoes and boots, also are thrown . There are many cultural variations as well, with differences between socio - economic areas and even age groups . </P> <P> A number of criminal explanations have been proposed as to why this is done . The foremost is bullying in which a bully steals a pair of shoes and puts them in a place where they are unlikely to be retrieved . Or sometimes it is done as a practical joke played on drunkards . A 2003 newsletter from the now former mayor of Los Angeles, California cited fears of many Los Angeles residents that "these shoes indicate sites at which drugs are sold or worse yet, gang turf", and that city and utility employees had launched a program to remove the shoes . </P> <P> Other, less criminal explanations have been proposed . In some cultures, shoes are flung to commemorate the end of a school year, or a forthcoming marriage, as part of a rite of passage . It has been suggested that the custom may have originated with members of the military, who are said to have thrown military boots, often painted orange or some other conspicuous color, at overhead wires as a part of a rite of passage upon completing basic training or on leaving the service . In the 1997 film Wag the Dog, shoe tossing features as an allegedly spontaneous cultural manifestation of tribute to Sgt . William Schumann, played by Woody Harrelson, who has purportedly been "shot down behind enemy lines" in Albania . </P>

What do shoes on a phone line mean