A Jet Blue flight attendant calls it quits in dramatic fashion! Flight attendant Steven Slater had enough of passengers who made his job difficult and called it quits with 2 beers, foul language and the inflatable slide.
His dramatic departure has brought attention to how stressful flying has become for not only passengers, but especially for flight attendants who often bear the brunt of passenger frustration, budget cuts in scheduling and work load, all with less benefits. MSNBC’s Christopher Elliot asked what should be done to help with the stress flying has become. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38648004/ns/travel-news/
My quote on laughter as a stress reliever is included in the MSNBC article “Plane angry: Air travel at a breaking point“:
Flying, by its very nature, is stressful, meaning it’s possible to remove all of the pain points identified by the experts — the fees, the hassles, the headaches — and still have a difficult flight. There are rough takeoffs, landings and turbulence. Anya Clowers, a nurse and travel expert, said Southwest’s tactic, which is to use a little humor to defuse a problematic situation, works well. “Laughter is a physical release of pent up airport security stress, boarding stress, and so forth,” she said.
Thanks Southwest Airlines for providing me with the experience to chime in on that topic!
However, Slater’s actions hold serious consequences. What if ground crew were walking below and were hit by the slide? According to Flight Attendant Abigail of Sky Waitress,
“Mr. Slater put his own dramatic need for attention above the lives of those who could have been on the ground working on the plane and unloading baggage. Not cool. I’m all for making a statement. If that means stealing a couple beers, cussing out passengers, storming off the airplane or whatever that’s one thing. It doesn’t hurt anyone but yourself and possibly your airline’s image. Endangering lives is a whole different story and for that Mr. Slater should be ashamed of himself. He should have known better.”
I think about the many times I had reached my limit as a hospital nurse. Between working double shifts without breaks (yes, a nursing shortage hurts the nurses too!), physical pain from lifting really sick, dead-weight patients and being on my feet all day, emotional strain of dealing with patients and family members who were in shock after the huge head and neck cancer surgeries (at times removing large portions of their face/neck or removing their voicebox and leaving them with a tracheostomy) and mental fatigue of documentation, policies, and documentation again… yes, I can clearly remember many times I had had it!
However, telling my patients off or endangering my coworkers or patients in any manner was never an option. (Tears, talking, and time helped!) And when pressure was building, I would recognize the need for therapy. How can I deal with this stress?
I think instead of losing it, we should encourage workers who are at the breaking point to get some help. Take some time to breathe. Put it in perspective. Yes, being a flight attendant is not what it used to be. Neither is being a nurse. That is why I left the hospital scene.
Life is short. There is nothing more clear than that when working with head and neck cancer patients.
If you are unhappy at work – leave responsibly. Maybe it’s to go to a therapy appointment. Or maybe it’s to transfer to another department.
And then again, maybe it’s to sell everything and travel around Europe.
We only get one life. This is it. Live happy. Laugh more.
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