So what is the deal with having your keys on a string?

Everywhere I go lately, everyone has their keys on a string. Or a lanyard, or whatever the hell you want to call the concept which, when boiled right down to its essence, is a string.

I don't get this at all. Why is this suddenly a freakin' status symbol? You drive down the street and you see a group of three or four kids, invariably in pants that don't fit, and a hat on sideways. I could do a whole rant on how god damn stupid these idiots look but that's for another day. This isn't downtown Detroit, and you aren't a hoodlum. You're stupid ass-hat in upper-middle class Saskatoon. Act your proper station in life.

Back to my point.

You see this group of three or four idiots walking down the street, and almost without variation, there's a damn string hanging out of their pocket. One of these miscreants will be fumbling with theirs and you realize its their keys. They've all go the string from their keys hanging out of their pocket!

Please, someone, explain to me why this is a good idea. Why is it that you have the keys that secure all of your valuable property on a god damn string hanging out of your pocket such that anyone that wanted to, really, could grab it from your pocket and you'd never catch them. You'd never catch them because you're damn pants are hanging down to your bloody knees and you can't get a proper running gait going.