CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

Steven Slater: Hero Or Creep?

Everyone is talking about the JetBlue flight attendant who was hit by a passenger’s bag, who grabbed the intercom and swore at the person then grabbed beers and his luggage and walked away via the emergency shoot on the plane.

If not, Google “Steven Slater” and you’ll see.

Everyone seems to be acting as if they are in awe of this guy, that they admire the guts it took to quit his job in such an uproar.

Maybe it’s me, but I’m not that impressed.

Since when do we glorify workers in the service industry who go crazy and curse and act this way?

I just took several flights on several airlines, and I’m not all that thrilled with flight attendants these days. On a Southwest flight, on my way home from my father’s funeral, the jokey-folksy banter was really not appreciated. I also didn’t like the snooty attendant who told us that “electronic devices” were “Devices. That are electronic” in a very snotty way, maybe because we weren’t turning them off fast enough to suit her? Or the U.S. Airs attendant who made me check my tiny bag because there was not room overhead — although there was tons of room overhead by my seat. At 1 a.m. in St. Louis, waiting for that bag, I was less than happy.

The idea that one of these flight attendants would be hating me for whatever — struggling with a bag that bumped him or her, fumbling to turn off my phone — would be glorified after telling me to eff off, that really is something I don’t get.

What do you think? Are out of control workers a funny thing? Or not?