Steven Slater - Retaliatory rudeness?

[Shoo]

Now the passengers are speaking up. According to them, he was rude right from the start of the flight. Snapping at them, refusing requests, and constantly slamming overhead bins and the galley fridge door.

I just read that 70% of the passengers have been interviewed by law enforcement and ALL of them have said they did not see him argue with a passenger about luggage, insinuating that he is lying.

[evely28]

Now the passengers are speaking up. According to them, he was rude right from the start of the flight. Snapping at them, refusing requests, and constantly slamming overhead bins and the galley fridge door.

Yeah, one of the passengers that complained about the FA, seemed to ignore the fact that the FA had more pressing problems to take care of-like his bleeding head. She complained that he didn't seem to want to bring her a napkin or paper towel to clean up a wet seat, when he had an obvious injury. I am in CS. I am good at CS, but if I had an obvious injury and I'm bleeding and a customer disregarded that and expected me to still do my job, instead of expressing any kind of concern, I would totally be gobsmacked.

It's bad enough when insult is added to injury, it's beyond imaginable to have many insults added to an injury.

[kingsrings]

This is the article I was referencing: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100812/ap_on_re_us/us_flight_attendant_arrest;_ylt=Ao4WHOrL7RMHNBjqJLcFbQ.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJ2MHY4anU1BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwODEyL3VzX2ZsaWdodF9hdHRlbmRhbnRfYXJyZXN0BGNwb3MDOARwb3MDNQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDcGFwYXNzZW5nZXJz

[Namárië]

If he had a giant gash on his head, perhaps he had a concussion.

Though really... why would they go in the air with a possibly concussed FA? That is really disturbing to me.

[stargazer]

If he had a giant gash on his head, perhaps he had a concussion.

Though really... why would they go in the air with a possibly concussed FA? That is really disturbing to me.

The gash on his head happened when the bin or luggage hit him on the head from what we know right now - at the end of the flight.

What I want to know is why nothing has been said (publically) about the woman who ignored FAA rules in the first place.  I cannot BELIEVE they gave her $100 voucher - she should have been arrested.

[DangerMouth]

Since he had 28 years at the job, presumably as a good employee since he was on 2 special committees, I'd forgive up to the point he deployed the slide.  As he is trained in safety, He KNOWS BETTER to deploy the slide, even if he was having a mini-breakdown.

He's 38, I doubt he's been on the job for 28 years. He's been at Jet Blue since 2008, I don't know where he worked before that.

[aventurine]

Since he had 28 years at the job -snip-

He's 38, I doubt he's been on the job for 28 years. He's been at Jet Blue since 2008, I don't know where he worked before that.

See, I thought he looked awfully young to have been employed anywhere for 28 years, but that's what the story I read said.  Did he say that, or was it a typo?  Does anyone know?

[Bibliophile]

He's been a steward for 20 years...  This article said "the court heard that, before leaving the plane, he also told passengers: “Those of you who have shown dignity and respect these last 20 years, thanks for a great ride.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7937994/JetBlue-flight-steward-defended-by-mother.html

[Hanna]

Now the passengers are speaking up. According to them, he was rude right from the start of the flight. Snapping at them, refusing requests, and constantly slamming overhead bins and the galley fridge door.

I just read that 70% of the passengers have been interviewed by law enforcement and ALL of them have said they did not see him argue with a passenger about luggage, insinuating that he is lying.

I have to confess, this kind of thing could happen right in front of my nose on a plane and I probably wouldn't even notice it.
I can't hear a darn thing over the noise of the plane, nor can I see over the seats. 

[immadz]

Now the passengers are speaking up. According to them, he was rude right from the start of the flight. Snapping at them, refusing requests, and constantly slamming overhead bins and the galley fridge door.

I just read that 70% of the passengers have been interviewed by law enforcement and ALL of them have said they did not see him argue with a passenger about luggage, insinuating that he is lying.

I have to confess, this kind of thing could happen right in front of my nose on a plane and I probably wouldn't even notice it.
I can't hear a darn thing over the noise of the plane, nor can I see over the seats. 

I agree. A plane is fairly big. I wouldn't necessarily see or even hear a big commotion if it wasn't super loud. I wouldn't see anything if it was happening in the seats behind me.

[KenveeB]

I can cut someone a lot of slack when they're actually assaulted on the job.  But not complete slack.  He did something (deploying the slide) that he knew from his training and experience could have hurt and even killed anyone who was around.  He chose to do it anyway, when it absolutely wasn't necessary for the problems they were having.  I have no sympathy.  He could've handled things much, much better, and the way he chose to do it was not only over the top but very dangerous.

[Hanna]

Can it really kill people?

[baglady]

I can imagine someone mishearing "20 years" as "28 years," especially if the phrase was spoken in a heated manner.

His comments were definitely retaliatory rudeness, and his subsequent behavior was reckless, could have hurt someone and will cost his employer a lot of money, but I can see why he has become a folk hero. We've all been in those situations where we felt abused and wanted to lash out but couldn't ... and he did.

But his 15 minutes are up, and I hope it's not *too* much to hope that this story goes away quietly and he doesn't make a bundle off this, a la Joey Buttafuoco.

[Lisbeth]

When I first read the story, I thought, "How rude, immature, unprofessional, and dangerous a response by a flight attendant."  I read it expecting to see that the guy was arrested.  I wasn't disappointed.

Now I'll be the first to agree that flight attendants often have lousy jobs, and having to deal with customers with bad attitudes just makes it lousier-especially when they can't eject them from the plane.  And the passenger in question was rude and her misconduct could have caused danger to everyone on the flight, no doubt about that.  But he chose an extreme and completely inappropriate way to deal-and deserves the consequences.  That he's getting 15 minutes (and more) of fame and support out of this really annoys me.

[jimithing]

If he had a giant gash on his head, perhaps he had a concussion.

You know, I wonder if there's something to this. I was listening to NPR tonight, and the new details that emerged said that he received the cut on his head at the very beginning of the flight, and that the passengers said that he was disheveled, seemed a bit out of it, etc.