NOTE: Since I began writing this, The Huffington Post, which, though I am a fan, routinely reveals a glaring immaturity amidst its news writers (as though its entire staff is comprised of 22-year-old interns), has wisely changed 'captured the nation's imagination' to 'captured America's attention', along with other story updates. But I left it in my post. It's truly how it read this morning, and, I believe, in part exemplifies my point.
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So, the 'famed' JetBlue flight attendant who, according to The Huffington Post, 'captured the nation's imagination' when he snapped like a twig and took a ride down an emergency chute is no longer employed by the airline.
Following an August 9 altercation with a passenger aboard JetBlue flight 1052, which had just landed in New York from Pittsburgh, Steven Slater reportedly unleashed a profanity-laden tirade on the airliner's PA system, announcing he was quitting his job then exiting through an emergency slide he deployed himself. He then disappeared across the tarmac and went home, where he was later arrested.
A spokesperson for Slater says Slater wanted his job back, but JetBlue announced yesterday, without going into details, that he was no longer employed by their company. Since the incident he had been suspended, pending an investigation. Now - at least for now - he is unemployed.
Good.
'Captured the nation's imagination'...??? Seriously?!
There has been way too much talk in the last month about Slater being painted as a folk hero, too many people happy (desperate?) to play devil's advocate by trying to understand his point of view, even applauding the flourish with which he made his grand exit, as though he did it on behalf of working class people everywhere. One HuffPost reader commented, of his purported frustration, 'we've all been there'; another stated that quitting while 'giving the company a big middle finger' was better, at least, than going on a murderous workplace rampage.
Uhh...okay? Someone shits on my front porch, I don't excuse it by giving thanks he didn't shit in my bath tub.
To boot, a reported tens of thousands of on-line 'fans' have been pushing to persuade JetBlue to reinstate Slater, evincing sympathy for this guy by trotting out some tired old 'us against them' argument - corporate America v. everyman.
What. The. Fuck. ?.
In fairness, not everyone is on Slater's side (most importantly JetBlue). It has been acknowledged that most passengers who witnessed the altercation (with a woman, reportedly over a carry-on bag) claim not only that Slater was the instigator but, perhaps of greater significance, 'brusque and cranky' throughout the flight.
Soo...WHO are the tens of thousands of fans trying to make excuses for the culmination of his 'brusque and cranky' behavior, exactly? They obviously weren't on the flight. Do they know what actually happened?
Have they ever flown?
When I walk into a Starbucks and encounter a 'brusque and cranky' worker pouring my Venti black...or frankly, when I notice that the individual assembling my sub sandwich, depositing my paycheck, pumping my gas, bagging my groceries, helping me find Season 4/Disc 3 of The Office, installing my DVR, fingering through a drawerful of prescriptions on my behalf, mixing me a Captain and Coke, pouring me a glass of wine, or cutting off a piece of peanut butter fudge for me to sample seems 'brusque and cranky', I get indignant. I suddenly don't want them helping me. Doesn't matter how short-lived their involvement in my day might be, I don't want them involved at all. I don't want them knowing what I watch, or what medication I've been prescribed, or touching my food, if they're - for whatever reason - going to be 'brusque and cranky' about it.
NOBODY involved with whisking me or anyone else away at 35,000 feet - from the individual piloting the big bird, to the person wheeling a cart full of peanuts and Sprite down the center aisle, to the person back at the airport scrubbing the toilet where I (accidentally, to be sure) splashed a little on the floor - should be allowed, CAN be allowed, to get 'brusque and cranky'.
I can imagine, probably more than it seems reading this post, that being a flight attendant is a difficult occupation; I really can. And I'm not completely without sympathy. The relationship between 'server' and 'customer' in any arena is inherently perverse. I myself while away my work week on the 'server' side of things, and from that experience alone, I have no doubt that a large number of airline passengers are awful (beyond 'brusque and cranky') on any given day. I'll even go so far as acknowledge the strong possibility that the woman involved in the altercation with Slater was a real pill.
Tough shit. Deal with it. Keep it together. You're NOT assembling a sub sandwich, Mr. Slater; there is nothing innocuous about your involvement with my life for the duration of the flight. You are, in part, responsible for my life; for ensuring my safety and comfort not only 6.62 miles above the Earth, but from the moment I walk into one airport until the moment I walk out of another...in the post 9/11 world, to boot, where long lines, delays, diverted flights, cancellations and a general sense of unease have become the norm. If you can't handle it, find another line of work.
I hear Subway is hiring...
Is this unreasonable?
Considering reports that he was the instigator, and a lack of anyone willing to corroborate his side of the story, Slater's actions should not have 'captured' anyone's imagination, nor should he be lauded as some kind of Robin Hood. He is at best, and this is a stretch, Don Quixote, tilting at windmills. And even if one is determined to support some imagined cause, there is no excuse for the 'flourish' of his exit. Slater could just as easily have told the woman where to stuff her carry-on bag, quietly left the plane and never come back. No childish public address tirade or emergency chute descent was necessary, or appropriate.
Not in the post-9/11 world. Not in the post-underwear bomber world.
JetBlue should have fired him immediately, not weaseled their way through a month of 'suspension, pending investigation' corporate blah-blah, allowing his folk hero status to take root, then allowing him to claim, as he is now, that he resigned. Symbolically, it would have helped their cause if they'd displayed an immediate zero tolerance policy. That Slater still faces charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing is a good sign justice, of some sort, will be served.
But folk hero status has long shown itself to be a dysfunctional phenomenon. Once the legal dust settles, I wouldn't be surprised if we hear from, or about, Steven Slater again. Another airline will pick him up, probably, sure to command an unholy amount of news coverage and analysis when it happens...or we just might whiff a reality show in the works at some point.
