This story is a little old now, but I could not pass up the opportunity to write about it. The story has already made the rounds on twitter, etc., but it epitomizes what this blog is all about — reporting and commenting on stories of people getting in trouble for stupid things.  So, here it is:

A two-stepping couple in their 50s say were trotted off to jail after police in New York City arrested them for dancing on a subway platform.

Caroline Stern, a dentist, and George Hess, a movie prop master, were waiting for a train at the Columbus Circle station after a late evening at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night’s Swing last year when they began dancing the Charleston to a musician playing the steel drums.

Ms Stern says she and her boyfriend were feeling the beat and there were very few people on the platform so they started moving to the rhythm.

That’s when police came in and spoiled the fun, they told the New York Post.

‘They said, “What are you doing?” and we said, “We’re dancing,”‘ she recalled.

‘And they said, “You can’t do that on the platform.”‘

The charges for the dancing were “disorderly conduct” and “impeding the flow of traffic.” But, according to the couple, things only got nasty when them man began to videotape the incident.

Prosecutors ended up dropping charges against the couple, but they stayed 23 hours in jail for dancing. How ridiculous is that? Thank goodness the police have kept the city of New York safe from dancers.

Related posts:

1. There’s a Law for That
2. Give Them Some Credit
3. The Hunger Wars in Philadelphia