I, like many others, giggled when I first heard about the antics of a Jetblue flight attendant. As the story goes, Steven Slater was treated rudely by some passengers who did not listen to instructions to sit down and was accidentally hit in the head with a bag. But what the understandably frustrated flight attendant did next has landed him in some legal hot water and has apparently made him a bit of a folk hero.
As you have probably heard, Mr. Slater allegedly took to the plane’s microphone and hurled a number of expletives (apparently including the f-bomb) at the unruly passengers, grabbed some beers, popped the escape hatch, and slid down the emergency slide.
I fly extensively for my employment so I can certainly understand Mr. Slater’s frustration at rude and unruly passengers, for I share it. However, I object to Mr. Slater’s elevation to folk hero for his antics, a claim I heard in several news reports yesterday. There is nothing heroic about what Mr. Slater did and I wonder about one key missing element to the story.
Beyond breaking the law with his grand exit, Mr. Slater’s behavior might have been worse than what triggered it. I guarantee that there are many professionals who day in and day out must deal with irate and rude customers, with significantly less enforcement ability than a flight attendant, who never act in such a way.
Apparently our crosses are not to be borne anymore, they are to be swung wildly in order to take out as many innocent bystanders as possible.
A quick story. About a year ago I was driving home from Mass with my wife and five children in the car. My neighborhood…
August 12, 2010 at 5:50 pm
The rule on Internet stories is always to wait till the cows come home. As it is turning out now, Mr. Slater's story is evaporating as more evidence seems to disprove it.
Mr. Slater was charged with the care and safety of the passengers. He failed that responsibility in an infantile temper tantrum, and then acted in an number of seriously illegal and reprehensible ways. He's an adult and an experienced steward. As such, he deserves a bit of prison time for reflection on endangering the lives of others under his care.
Beyond that, the guy and his supporters are obnoxious twits.
August 12, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
August 12, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Ya want rude — fly Air Canada. I know it goes against the culture, because Canada, God's second-favorite nation, is a model of courtesy.
I don't know where the flight attendants on Air Canada are sent to learn ill manners, but they do a thorough job of it.
— Mack
August 12, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Patmos LOL!
Patrick – as a frequent airline traveler myself, I also sympathize with your frustration. Airline travel has been drastically degraded over the last 10 years (since 9/11 actually) to the point where you can often feel like you are riding a city bus. And it's a trickle-down; the more lower-class the passengers, the more unresponsive and apathetic the flight-crew seem to get. Unless you are lucky enough to have a company that will pay for First/Business Class (can't even count on upgrades anymore regardless of status) you have to just suffer through the flight, passengers and lack of service.
At the same time, this last generation has been severely lacking in delayed gratification, work-ethic and what I would characterize as dignity. They seem to be raised with a severe sense of entitlement, self-worth and an eagerness to get their 15-minutes of fame REGARDLESS of how it is achieved (and most often it is through stupidity rather than any accomplishment or talent).
So, hero or self-indulgent, spoiled, amoral drama-queen? You be the judge.
August 13, 2010 at 7:02 am
I wouldn't call him a HERO, but the story I heard was a bit different… he was hit in the head with luggage he then had to take off and gate-check, the woman whose luggage it was was verbally abusive, flight goes on. They land, taxi to the gate, and the woman cusses him out because the luggage isn't waiting at the gate.
Hissy fit, yes, hero, no, but there is some justification.
Verbal assault of a safety officer has a nice ring to it….
August 13, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Foxfier, that is old news.
The latest is that he acted apparently without any justification and was, in fact, the single verbal abuser in this whole sad and stupid affair. Again, a couple of years in a federal prison may temper his judgement which also seemed strangely impaired as noted by other passengers during the flight.
August 13, 2010 at 10:48 pm
John, well said.
All it takes is a moment to get one's fact straight before one posts. Sure makes one look a lot less…bafoonish? Notttttt ttttttoo difficulttttttt.
August 13, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Maybe you should take it up with KOMO news, since that is what they were reporting yesterday afternoon.
Or you can be a donkey on the internet. Your call!
August 13, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Not the JetBlue leaked memo; has some folks actually interviewed and quoted rather than summarized by one side of the upcoming legal conflict, and their accounts are all over the board…except for the "without justification" part.
Also worth noting that he does have a visible scab on his head.
August 14, 2010 at 1:55 am
KOMO news?? Wow! Why, that's almost as reliable as the Podunck Picayune, which consistently wins the "Methy" for best news source in the Lower Stenchburg area! And that photo shows he CLEARLY has a swolen wrist, which MUST have come from shaking his finger at naughty passengers!
LOLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously?
August 14, 2010 at 2:02 am
And where does a random, anonymous guy on a blog post's comment section fall in the continuum?
August 14, 2010 at 2:05 am
(I mean, we all know that Seattle is the middle of nowhere– but someone who doesn't even bother to make a blogger account? My, goodness.)
August 16, 2010 at 12:11 am
Patrick's NCR piece on this topic was mentioned on Fox New Yesterday afternoon.
August 16, 2010 at 3:37 am
Voice in the Crowd
Do you know who mentioned it and on which show?
I have heard this from a few other people and I am curious who I should send chocolate to…
August 17, 2010 at 12:21 am
Patrick-
There was a female guest on an afternoon news show that said your line, "What I don’t understand is why he is not embarrassed and why we are not embarrassed for him?
I guess as a culture we just don’t do embarrassment anymore," was the best line written on the topic. She mentioned your name and the NCRegister.
I think it was on America's News HQ, with Jamie Colby, I think. I would put it between 11-2:20PM; if that helps.