This AP story from the The Huffington Post caught my eye this morning. It seems Bob Dylan was taking a walk before his show with Willie Nelson and someone called the cops on him!
Rock legend Bob Dylan was treated like a complete unknown by police in a New Jersey shore community when a resident called to report someone wandering around the neighborhood.
Now the AP article treats the incident humorously because Bob Dylan was not recognized by the 24 year old cop that showed up to investigate...
A 24-year-old police officer apparently was unaware of who Dylan is and asked him for identification, Long Branch business administrator Howard Woolley said Friday.
but I find the story alarming. It seems in the land of the free and the home of the brave you can't even go out for a walk without someone calling the cops.
Now, according to the article he was treated nicely, but since he did not happen to have ID on him, he was escorted back to his hotel where the hotel had to vouch for him. Knowing Dylan, he probably thought the whole thing was kind of humorous, too. However, what if he was a star that was the type to get affronted at not being recognized? Would the cops have tazed him if he was offended or upset for being questioned just for walking around?
Maybe the person who called the cops thought that Dylan was an elderly man who had wandered off and was lost. But still, couldn't that person have just asked him and not gotten the cops involved?
My sister was just telling me that she went to a party at a neighbors house, and another neighbor called the cops. The party wasn't a loud obnoxious party, it was a bunch of middle aged people having a picnic! The cops were actually embarrassed to even tell them about the complaint!
And of course there was the infamous Gates incident.
I guess my rambling point is that I think that Americans have lost their objectivity and common sense. Maybe it is the 24 hour bad news channels or too many cop shows or hate radio, but people have become paranoid and assume the worst in every situation.
Hopefully, Dylan will write a great song about the incident.