Steven Slater: Rewarding Foolish Behavior Sends Wrong Message

Filed under: News

One would have had to have been under a rock in the middle of the Sahara Desert to not have heard about the actions of Steven Slater this past week. Slater, a former flight attendant for Jet Blue Airlines, quit his job in a very memorable way. Allegedly set off by a rude passenger, he just couldn't take it anymore and escaped from the plane by jumping out of the emergency hatch minutes after the craft had landed. The rest is history.

Although Steven Slater was arrested and detained briefly, what does this guy ultimately get for losing his mind and endangering passengers? His own personal 15 minutes of fame, being hailed as a "hero" (by some people who clearly have no idea what the word means), and possibly his own reality show. I understand the initial attraction many have to what Slater did. He lived out a fantasy that a lot of us have thought of in one way or another. This would simply be a funny story, if it weren't for the fact that this guy appears to be about to cash in off of his ridiculous behavior.

According to several passengers, Slater was acting erratically for most of the flight. What if he hadn't been able to refrain from having his complete meltdown until the plane was on the ground? Although many of us have had thoughts of doing outrageous things on our job, most of us refrain from actually doing them. This is not out of fear for most, but more out of common sense and necessity.


And, though many people would like to, we can't ignore the obvious issue of what the outcome would have been if Mr. Slater were a black man or woman. I highly doubt the media coverage would be so positive. I'm sure we would be hearing more words like unstable, angry, irresponsible, and unprofessional, instead of the happy-go-lucky stories we've gotten with Steven Slater. And I seriously doubt he would be discussing a reality TV show deal. The only discussions he would be having would be about bail and possibly a plea deal to avoid prison time.

Most people with responsibilities don't have the luxury of not thinking before they act, or spontaneously quitting a job (and getting arrested in the process) without having something else lined up. It is beyond irresponsible to praise as heroic someone who acted in the way that Steven Slater did, especially given the unemployment rates across the country. While many people are losing their homes and struggling simply to make ends meet, Steven Slater is about to profit from being completely self-absorbed and irresponsible. He's lucky he was a white guy, otherwise the outcome would likely have been dramatically different.

 

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