If you haven’t heard the name “Steven Slater” (not to be confused with sociopathic teen Steven Spader), you must be living sans television or internet. Slater, who frankly strikes me as a glib, opportunistic attention whore, is inexplicably being hailed by many as a “folk hero” for his recent shenanigans at JFK Airport.
Perhaps the “folk tale” aspect isn’t far from accurate as the story seems to change every hour and Slater grows exponentially more mythical. Indeed, when the story first broke, it seemed like a standard case of “working class hero has enough.”
The basic story was that Slater, a JetBlue flight attendant, got pissed off when a female passenger refused to apologize to him after her luggage hit him on the head. Even worse, the passenger swore at him, and Slater snapped after putting up with rude, pushy airline passengers for thirty years. He announced via a profanity-laced intercom announcement that he was quitting, then grabbed a couple of beers, activated the emergency exit slide, and left his career in impeccable style.
Yeah, that would have been kind of a cool story. If it had been the truth. However, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Slater was not a hardworking guy that got pushed too far and instead just another asshole.
[The Wall Street Journal] spoke to one passenger, 53-year-old school teacher Marjorie Briskin, who said it was Slater who cursed first at a female passenger who simply asked him where her luggage was stowed.
“I didn’t think she was rude in the least. (He) was so inappropriate,” Briskin is quoted by the paper.
Another passenger, Lauren Dominijanni, reported asking Slater for a towel to clean up some coffee on her seat. She said Slater, “rolled his eyes in a real rude manner”.. then barked “No. Maybe when we get in the air. I need to take care of myself first, honey.” “It wasn’t normal.. I felt so uncomfortable on that flight.”