Guest columnist: What's so great about the Jet Blue flight attendant?

The recent semi-celebrity of the now former Jet Blue flight attendant, Steve Slater, came as a bit of a surprise to me.

One guy does the same thing I’ve done at multiple jobs, yet somehow because he slid down a chute and grabbed a beer, he’s a celebrity and a hero?

Are people’s lives truly that mundane and everyone so weak of character that we make celebrities and mini heroes of people who are merely doing the same thing anyone should do at a crappy job?

It shouldn’t actually be a surprise to anyone that this happened though. In a country shifting rapidly to service industry jobs, it’s nearly inevitable that things like this will happen.

As anyone who has worked in the service industry can attest to, the longer you deal with customers, the closer the odds of having to deal with some relentless prick move to 100 percent.

Steve Slater merely did the same thing anyone with a backbone should do.

But we live in a society where everyone is so afraid of standing up for themselves, they have to look to others to remember what they should do when confronted with rude customers or employers.

In the midst of this recession, it is very hard for many people to find work. And the jobs that are available in this country often pay laughablylow wages.

The cost of living in the United States goes up each year, and it does because you to have to think about how you can manage bills and still be able to eat. But that doesn’t mean you should let others walk all over you.

My personal resume is essentially “Dirty Jobs” without the cameras or entertainment value.

For a much larger paycheck and an audience, Mike Rowe essentially does what I and many others have had to do just to keep the lights on. In a way, I view shows such as this as some kind of placebo effect for the populace, some form of tranquilizer that enables them to look at these jobs and say, “Hey, at least my job doesn’t suck that bad. Sure my boss is a prick, but ...”

But nearly all jobs generally suck, and I’ve yet to find the field where you don’t have to deal with rude, ineffective coworkers and customers.

That shouldn’t stop you from still trying to do better, from trying to find a better situation for employment.

The more you let employers and customers walk all over you, the easier it is for them to require longer hours, berate you or downgrade your pay.

And these situations only make it harder for people like me who don’t have the patience or the temperament to deal with these people.

So for your sake and mine, grow a spine, stop worshipping people who are only doing what you should have done years ago, and find a new job if yours sucks.  


E-mail: mrstraw@indiana.edu