Dylan's Run In With The Cops

Thanks to "A Loyal Fan" who brought the following story to my attention and asked me to blog on it.

A young female police officer recently stopped Bob Dylan and asked him his name and what he was doing wandering around a low income neighbourhood. She apparently did not know who he was. He stated who he was, and why he was in the area (he was there for a concert). She called in a second police officer (a male) for assistance. They asked him for his I.D. He said he did not have any on him. They asked him to accompany them to his hotel. He did. He was vouched for. The officers thanked Dylan for his cooperation. Dylan was apparently very nice about the whole thing. Incident over.

So.. what do I (or you ) make of this when one compares it to the Professor Gates incident?

My first point is obvious. The threesome should not expect an invitation to the White House any time soon for beers and pretzels. No need for a "beer summit" here. The incident was handled appropriately by all three involved, so there is no need to "incentivize" them to behave like responsible adults. This is no big loss, at least to the cops and the President. If Dylan's concert performances are any indication, although he is a great performer, he is a very lousy conversationalist. It would be a deadly dull evening.

As to what else one could make of this (assuming it is all truly reported), it is all fascinating speculation.

Did Dylan cooperate because he was stopped by a young female cop?
Did Dylan cooperate because he is white and does not carry around the baggage of racial profiling?
Did Dylan cooperate because he is a cool dude and not a pretentious Harvard professor?
Did the three of them act civilly because they did not want to have to have a beer at the White House with Obama and Biden?

I do not know. But it's interesting, isn't it?