Steve Montgomery

Steven Slater: Lunatic or Working-Class Hero?

August 16, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
A dramatic meltdown by a JetBlue flight attendant has sparked a discussion around people's frustrations with their jobs in a time of seemingly endless cutbacks. What lessons did you take from Steven Slater's meltdown and the public's reaction to it?      [more...]

While I can understand his frustration I can not condone his actions. He created an incident that impacted not only the customer he said caused his action, but many, many others.

I think what appeals to many of his supporters is that they too have felt like doing something similar. The difference is, they didn't and he did. It is unfortunate that people would see him as a hero rather than someone who simply lost control (if indeed he did).

No one questions that people are being asked to do more with less--both the sales associates and the customers they serve. The issue is how best to make this difficult times easier for both. Would be great if I or any of today's responders had the magic bullet, but we don't. It takes a lot of effort. One of the best things we can do is to remove as many of the frustrations the staff has that are not customer related.