By now you’re very likely to have heard about Steven Slater, the US JetBlue flight attendant who spat the dummy and activated the aircraft’s emergency slide once his flight landed. He abused passengers then grabbed a couple of beers before heading out on the emergency slide.
He was later arrested and could spend up to seven years in prison.
A New York Times report says that after 20 years working as a flight attendant, one final disagreement with a passenger was one disagreement too much for Slater.
One passenger stood up to retrieve belongings from the overhead compartment before the crew had given permission. Mr. Slater instructed the person to remain seated. The passenger defied him. Mr. Slater reached the passenger just as the person was pulling down the luggage, which struck Mr. Slater in the head.
Mr. Slater asked for an apology. The passenger instead cursed at him. Mr. Slater got on the plane’s public-address system and cursed out the passenger for all to hear. Then, after declaring that 20 years in the airline industry was enough, he blurted out, “It’s been great!” He activated the inflatable evacuation slide at a service exit and left the world of flight attending behind.
While what Steven Slater did was illegal and dangerous, many people around the world have made him a hero. I’m guessing that there are a lot of people who feel hostility toward their workplace and wish that they could make an equally grandiose exit.
I’m wondering if you’ve ever made a spectacular exit from a job or if you’ve ever dreamed of it. What have you done or what would you like to have done to say a suitable goodbye to a workplace? I’d love to hear your story or your dreams of what you wish you could do. Just leave a few thoughts in the comments section of this post.
Leonardo da Vinci was passionately dedicated to scientific studies. His manuscripts are full of ingenuous solutions to practical problems of his time.
