As Devin Leonard of Business Week offered last week: “What’s remarkable about the case of Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant who quit his job in magnificent style on Aug. 9, is not that an airline worker would snap after an encounter with an unruly passenger on a mid-morning Pittsburgh-to-JFK run. It’s that so much of the rest of the country applauded.”
How true that is. Many in corporate America may not be as brave or impetuous as he was; yet, that doesn’t mean they won’t be heading for the exits as soon as the economy picks up and new opportunities present themselves. As one of his fans wrote on Twitter: “On behalf of all of us thinking about creative ways of leaving our jobs, screw you Steven Slater for setting the bar ridiculously high.” Stress, dissatisfaction, and increasing competition are pervasive.
Times like these are a fertile ground for ‘snaps’ like Steven Slater’s. So, a few words for both parties (the employee and the employer): Take care of business. Keep your employees happy. Do your job. Treat others the way you would want to be treated. And take nothing – not a job or a person – for granted.
This guy has had more than his 15 minutes…IMHO he’s looking for a reality show and found a great way to get the necessary attention.