Steve Slater, American Folk Hero or Troubled man?

We have all read the accounts of Steve Slaters' incident with a passenger in which Mr. Slater was struck on the head by the overhead bin when a passenger refused to kindly return to their seat. 

Mr. Slater was injured, and a cut can be seen on his head in some of the footage that the news has shown us. 

According to all of the reports, Mr. Slater then began a very ugly rant, using profanity, slamming profanities out to everyone via the PA system on the airplane. 

Amazing is what happened next. Steven Slater became a folk hero overnight. There is a fan page that has nearly 200,000 members in less than 24 hours since his release from jail. 

What is it about the event that has everyone talking? Well, there was his grand exit. He threw his bags down the emergency slide that he deployed, grabbed a beer, and then slid down after his luggage, took the crew van to the car, threw down the company tie from his neck, and rode home, where he was arrested soon after.  How many of us have had the fantasy of "getting even with the boss"? How many of us have thought of some grand and dramatic way to make that exit in a way that would demean the person or the company, and build up our ego? Of course, most of us have thought about it. 

I once held a temp job where my employer would block all of us until their chime on their watch went off, not allowing us to exit until then. Persons who clocked in late at the same place were told to come and talk to the boss about the tardiness, even if it was within 5 seconds of on time. No matter that you had to wait behind others to clock in, you better be on time. 

Another boss made us clock in at a time clock near our computer, and clock out at the time, but the computers had keystroke monitors, so, there would be notes on the computer for "idle" time. (Such as when I would be away from my desk to get a fax or make copies) "idle" time of more than 3 minutes came out of your check. When I left, I made a flip show using post-its from the office. Childish? Sure. Wasteful? Sure. Harmful? Not really. 

Steve Slater deployed the emergency slide during a highly emotionally charged moment. He was up to his eyeballs, frustrated, and could not deal with it. So, he made the announcement, deployed the slide, and down he went....after grabbing a beer. Which is startling, because on two of his social networking sites, he mentions 12 step programs. I certainly hope that Steve did not drink, but the indications seem to be that he did. 

People are coming unglued wanting to know the identity of the mystery woman that struck Steven in the head. She is being vilified as an indecent, rude, pig of a woman. (and that is being nice. You should read some of the descriptions of her, and what people are saying about her elsewhere.)

Personally, I do not think that the woman who struck him in the head intended to do so. I think that it was a genuine accident that injured someone. Was she wrong for getting her bag before she was supposed to? Sure. Wrong for failing to comply with the directions of cabin crew? Sure.

Was she in violation of the law for not giving Steve an apology? No. Rude, yes, but breaking the law, not really.

When I was in a tug of war a long time ago, the person in front of me was pulling the rope so hard that their hand slipped and they bonked me in the face, giving me a black eye. They were unaware that they had done it. We finished the tug of war, and afterwards, I got ice. When the person saw what happened, they asked how it happened. I said that it was during the tug of war, honest accident, no harm, no foul. 

For Mr. Slater to DEMAND an apology, as has been reported elsewhere was a little over the top. I agree, she sounds rude, but it is not his place to teach someone manners. I know, I know, I seem harsh right now, too. 

For him to grab the PA, make an announcement to the entire plane using extremely crude language was, although dramatic and memorable, completely uncalled for. 

Finally, for him to grab an alcoholic beverage from the galley cart, open the emergency exit and deploy the slide, was completely reckless in regards to the crew, the passengers, the ground crew, and the safety of the airplane.

Had I been on board the plane, I would have been amused and concerned at the same time. 

JetBlue suspending this man pending an investigation is completely understandable. 

Much attention has been brought forward to show the amount of stress load that a typical flight attendant endures in a day. It can be heartbreaking to read some of the stories that the men and woman who work in the cabin endure on a daily basis. On the other hand, a quick search on any search engine will show equal amounts of articles that are given over to rude flight attendants. 

I have read over and over about flight attendants who nearly fall over when they are thanked for pouring a beverage. I always say Thank you when I am served, and sometimes it is noticed, and sometimes, it is not. 

I have read accounts of people who bring screaming children on board a plane, and scream the entire time that they are in the air. 

I think that there is a place we all as air travelers need to return to. That place is civility. Treat every person as though they were you. With Mr. Slater, I hope that he will find happiness in whichever direction his life leads him, and that this very published story will lead to a lot more courtesy in the air for a while.....from both the passengers and the crew.