Take This Job And Shove It!

By now you’ve probably heard about the Jet Blue flight attendant named Steven Slater who decided to exit his job in grand fashion last week, but just in case you missed the story…

Slater had an altercation with an unruly passenger upon arrival at JFK, and after the altercation Slater took the intercom and began swearing at the passenger over the loud speaker, then he grabbed a few beers from the beverage cart, pulled the lever to activate the emergency evacuation chute, and slid down and rode off into the sunset (his house, where he was later arrested!).

Ironically, I was traveling the same day of this incident and witnessed a passenger argue with the flight attendant over why he couldn’t leave his bag in his lap with the strap wrapped around his neck during takeoff. The flight attendant very politely stated the choking hazard to himself if he kept the strap around his neck and the hazard to himself and other passengers around him if he kept the bag in his lap during takeoff. It was amazing to me how ridiculous this passenger acted when all he had to do was follow the FAA rules and place the bag under the seat in front of him. I think people forget that flight attendants are on board to keep us safe, not to be our waiter/waitress, and there is actually a reason why they ask us to abide by the rules.

After witnessing this incident and later hearing of Slater’s drama, it got me thinking about how stressful it must be to work as a flight attendant and encounter hundreds of passengers every day, most of whom are probably in a bad mood because they were rushing to catch their flight or they had a bad client meeting, etc., and this is probably the reason why Slater’s actions have resonated with so many people in America. I’m sure we’ve all been in Slater’s position at some point in our career and fantasized about telling our boss to “take this job & shove it!” Working in advertising is pretty stressful, so I’m surprised I’ve never heard of any epic departures from an ad agency, but I was curious if any of have you? Tell your story. And be nice to your flight attendant next time you fly!