Talk:Hands Across America
I remember being in Bremen, IN. when I was 16 at the time of "Hands Across America." I was staying with friends and we went out to the road to hold hands with the community. I am hoping to find others in the area to share their experience. May 25, 1986 at 3:00pm - Hands Across America. It was a good time when people came together.
I remember this...
....I did it only because I had to get a bus to work during my Junior year in college and it was along the road where the bus stop 6 miles north of Pittsburgh PA. When I got to work the security guards were talking about it and an old geezer guard came to the guard post and said "Hands across America? Hands Across my ass!" I couldnt stop laughing.
I participated that day...
...I was in the Girl Scouts and our Leader got tickets for us. I was 12 years old and I still have my ticket somewhere. If I ever find it, perhaps I'll upload a scan of it here. I do know that there was a huge gap in our line. We held hands on our section of the highway, but there weren't people around us for miles. I can't remember exactly where we were, but it was somewhere in Maryland. 1986 is a long time ago! It felt really cool to be part of something like that though. It was exciting at the time despite the obvious line gap.
Been there, done that,
and I actually received a t-shirt that I still have lying around in a box somewhere. I was nine years old and I participated in this event. I just remember that my mother, father and I were all supposed to be together, but got separated for whatever reason. Looking back, it was a really cool feat of organization and especially unique becuase so many people participated. It would have been nice though if it was actually one continuous chain (maybe down the shoulder of I-80 someday?) It is kind of dissapointing that we haven't seen this type of patriotism since then. Sure, post 9-11 people were putting out flags for a while, but in my opinion, 'Hands Across America' was and still is an unprecedented unified simultaneous act of patriotism.
Noble Failure?
The linked ABC piece really illustrates a point that's missing from this article: that the event was a failure. Not just because exceptions had to be made here and there for missing people, but because of the costs involved and the shortfall vis a vis the amount the organizers intended to raise. Something should be said about the legacy of the event, which is that it's kind of looked on as a noble failure.
Also, the block quote at the beginning of the article needs citation.
PacificBoy 17:32, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
Almost forgot about it....
I mentioned Hands Across America in passing while talking with my girlfriend who immigrated here from Germany a few years ago. She hadn't heard of it. It was a little hard trying to describe it, racking my brain because I hadn't given real thought to that day in so long. But she thought it was so cool, a really great idea. Looking back on it, it was pretty cool, failure or not. I can't see that happening now. Anyway, my family and I were at battery park in New York for the event. I remember that the line of people snaked around and that people were bunched up at times, I remember thinking that if all the crowded places likE the one I was at made an effort to straighten out, maybe we COULD stretch all thE way across the country. Ha!
Hands Across America 2?
Let's do it again, on September 11, 2011. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.67.35.112 (talk) 18:12, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
- I'm up for it. Mcavic (talk) 05:54, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
- Terrorism and electric I think will be the reason it'll never happen again.--Dana60Cummins (talk) 03:35, 27 August 2009 (UTC)
The beginning of......
....empty gestures making people of limited intelligence and wit feel good by "doing something" no matter how empty and useless it is. Unfortunately such feel goodism penetrated Federal Policy and we are at we are today. Maybe if people had gone into a place of employment and worked a little harder and donated the results, or reported to an existing voluntary association and helped out, then at least something constructive would have come out of it, even if still a bit quixotic. But holding hands and wasting time and "feeling good" accomplished nothing. And a whole generation of empty behaviors was unleashed. --12.28.101.34 (talk) 16:08, 18 March 2009 (UTC)
If you're looking to fix this article, here's a few places to start.
These notes are as much for my reference as anyone else. As I come across the infromation, I will add it to the article as appropriate. It looks like whoever wrote this got the feel-good happy out of the way. It was a public spectacle blah blah did a lot to raise awareness about hunger blah blah. But we can't ignore the important stuff, like where the money came from and where the money went.
In the first section, there is a section in quotations. Who is being quoted and when was it said?
Where did the totals for the number of participants come from? This article claims that 5.5 million people participated, whereas the official website claims that over 7 million people participated.
What were the exact routes, and participants and distances involved, in the separate chains? If we do not have these numbers, then how was it determined that the total distance was enough to cross the continental United States?
Ribbon was used in place of participants for major sections of the chains. How much ribbon was used, who made it, who paid for it, and what sections did it cover?
Estimates from the ABC website listed in the article claim that this event cost $17 million to produce. What sorts of costs were involved and who paid them? Kragan claims that 400 people worked publicizing the event... what were their salaries and who paid them?
In the ABC article, it says that Kenny Rogers "went to bat, schmoozing insurance companies to underwrite a policy to cover the event." What, exactly, was "insured" about the event, who paid for the policy, what conditions were required for a pay-out, and who would have received that pay-out if the conditions were met?
Where did the total for donations come from, and what charities actually received how much money? Who was responsible for accounting for that money and who determined that there were fewer donations than participants?
The official website for the event says that Coca-Cola and Citibank donated $8 million, was that included in the totals? More than 700 other companies "sponsored" the event... what were their donations, were they made as cash or as advertising or other services? Who paid for the McDonald's placemats, ect? Were those donations accounted for in the totals?
Most importantly, as far as I'm concerned, was all that money independently audited to ensure that it wasn't fraud that reduced the "take"? Or must we simply assume that the event sponsors were "honest" about it?