2008-08-26

Sneakers on power lines

There's a pair of sneakers hanging over the power lines on North Shore Road near Store Hill. Been there for quite a while, actually. I don't know what the safety hazards are for this (like, could a large truck catch the sneakers and yank the line down, for example?), I suppose Belco will deal with it eventually.

Why would somebody tie up a pair of sneakers and hoist them over the power lines, though? Apparently another thing we've copied from our American friends, I searched online for possibilities.

They range from the clowning-around variety:
  • bullies take them off defenceless kids, then sling them up out of reach as the ultimate taunt
  • overly puffed-up boys who have just lost their virginity or otherwise passed a sexual milestone look to signal the event to others
  • graduating seniors mark this transition in their lives by leaving something of themselves behind; namely, their shoes
to the more serious and or possibly dangerous possibilities:
  • the work of gangs marking the boundaries of their territory (in Bermuda, I don't see that happening, just because the gangs seem to already know each others' "territory")
  • a location where one can buy street drugs (I wouldn't doubt this, but it seems like a lot of overkill; besides, why tip the cops off?)
  • creating an informal memorial at the spot where a friend lost his life (possible, but the Bermudian tradition is just to spray paint the roads with messages and hang up bedsheets with messages written across them, so that's maybe a little doubtful)
What do you think?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

have it on good authority d drug answer is correct...can find em in many more likely spots around d island

Anonymous said...

I have no idea what the real reason is, but I have always thought it was the last reason you highlighted - as some sort of memorial for someone in their group who has died.