Air steward lives the dream

Air steward lives the dream

Kipp salutes Steven Slater, who launched into a tirade on a plane’s PA system, quit his job, grabbed some drinks and leapt down an emergency chute to unemployment.

August 11, 2010 4:13 by shafeer

We couldn’t let the week finish up without making mention of a new global hero, who has caught the imaginations of depressed employees the world over with one of the most spectacular walk-outs you could imagine.

Steven Slater, a flight attendant for the airline Jet Blue, made his spectacular resignation on board a plane that had just landed in New York airport. A passenger got up while the plane was still taxiing, and Slater asked her to sit down. She swore at him and a row ensued, which culminated in Slater commandeering the public address system to launch a tirade before grabbing his bags and two beers from the galley, popping the lever for the inflatable emergency chute and sliding away to freedom.

Well, not quite freedom. Police arrested Slater about an hour later at home, and he has been charged with criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, which carries a maximum term of seven years in prison.

But despite being out of a job and having new found legal woes, Slater has become an unexpected hero to people in the US and abroad. The UK’s Daily Mail reports that in the US “there was growing sympathy yesterday for the kind of abuse flight attendants have to deal with from unruly passengers.”

Facebook and other social networks have apparently formed groups in support of the 39 year old, carrying messages like this one: “Steven only did what all of us feel like doing to those inconsiderate people that think they are better than the rest of the world.”

And Kipp can’t help but side with them. It seems to us that too often nowadays, rudeness has become a way of life, and for this man, for a few minutes, it became too much to bear in silence. While we can’t condone swearing on a public address system, we can understand his actions in the heat of the moment. And what’s more, who isn’t quietly impressed with his manner of departure? Here was a man truly living the dream of telling boss, colleagues and customers: Enough is enough. His spectacular exit will ensure the moment goes down in folklore.

What do you think: Was Slater’s behavior justified? Do you support his outlandish resignation? Don’t you secretly yearn to do the same some days?