August 10, 2010
“Few men of action have been able to make a graceful exit at the appropriate time.”
Malcolm Muggeridge
“Hello I must be going”
Groucho Marx
It isn’t hard to make a great entrance. Timing, dress, the right moment. Whole weddings are designed around the bride’s entrance. It’s something we all try- do it right, and people remember.
Of course, it is a bit harder to make a great exit. You want to end on a high note, or leave ’em laughing.
Daffy Duck, famously, made a grand exit, but he could only do it once.
But he had nothing on this guy:
Steve Slater, the JetBlue Hater!
Meet Steve Slater.
JetBlue flight attendant, and winner of the GREATEST EXIT EVER AWARD!
The story begins on Monday at JFK airport, New York. Shockingly, to the surprise of everyone, a flight landed on time. Yes, really!
The plane taxied to the terminal and came to a stop, but the pilot had not yet given the signal for the passengers to get out of their seats. Of course, that never stopped anyone. If you’ve been crammed on a plane for hours on end you take any chance you can get to stretch, especially if you are on the ground and motionless. One passenger stood up and started taking his bag out of the overhead compartment.
Well, that just didn’t sit right with Steward Extraordinaire Steven Slater.
Steven Slater, moments before the fun began
“Sit down please.”
No response.
He came a bit closer “Sir, the pilot hasn’t given the signal, sit down please.”
No response.
“Sir, I -OOOFF!”
At that moment, the passenger wrestled his bag out of the overhead, which came down and hit Slater on the head. The two men got into an argument during which, according to witnesses, the passenger called Slater “a mo-fo.”
Sounds like a great Jerry Springer moment. Seriously, how angry can you be if the best you can come up with is “mo-fo”? Even Michael Richards did better, but we all know what happened to him.
So anyway, just seconds after being called a “mo-fo,” Steven Slater ran to the front of the cabin, and thus begins the GREATEST EXIT EVER!
He picked up the intercom and cursed out all the passengers,
threw open the emergency exit and the inflatable ramp,
grabbed two beers from the galley and slide down the emergency slide,
ran to the employee parking lot, jumped in his car, and sped off.
Allegedly, he yelled “There goes 28 years!” and “yippee!” as he slid.
Now that is a show! No one on that plane will ever forget it!
Police found him at his home, having sex with his boyfriend, where I’m sure another unforgettable exit was in the making.
Whhheeeeeeee!
My thanks to Thomas Stazyk for noting the uncanny resemblance to controller Jacobs from Airplane!
Any many thanks to Jodi Applegate for coining the name “The Jet-Blunatic.” Classic!
While there is no clear video of the incident available, here is Louie CK with an unforgettable aerial exit of his own:
Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride 
LMAO
That is simply amazing.
Sadly enough though, I can kind of understand where he’s coming from…I worked in customer service (over the phone, which is NEVER fun) for two years, and it was a living hell. I had fantasies of yelling and screaming at imbecilic customers who just made absolutely NO sense, then standing up, walking up to my manager, throwing my headset at her, and yelling, “I QUIT!”……however, I have a little more self control than Mr. Slater, apparently.
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I think there is a part of all of us that wishes we could do what he did.
Thanks for the comment!
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I wonder if Stephen Slater is still eligible for COBRA??
Even if it’s fiction, one of my favorites workplace exits was in the movie “Wanted.” When the main character leaves his office, smacking his “friend” in the face with the keyboard after going off on his boss was just beautiful!! The whole scene was hilarious!
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I never saw the film but I know the scene from the comic. Very sweet.
As for COBRA, the guy is clearly not GI Joe.
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Great post! We got this story down here but without all the details. The guy obviously has issues–he looks like that whacky air traffic controller in Airplane! but based on what you say, it was the passenger who would have been arrested if Slater had kept his cool.
According to the article I saw he’s still in jail.
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Right- the guy in the tower with Lloyd Bridges!
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Yeah–Love the pic. But what’s going on over there? Have you seen this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26852192/vp=38641469�
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The man is very, very quickly becomming a folk hero. I think the guy is a little bit off.
I really like local anchor Jodi Applegate’s nickanme, “The JetBlu-natic.”
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The only thing that would have made this exit better would be if he screamed “Riddle me THIS, Batman!” followed by bright purple smoke rising mysteriously from the floors, he rips off his FA uniform to reveal a shiny green spandex costume covered with question marks…and then proceded to slide off the plane while laughing maniacally…
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BEST line from the (2nd) BEST Bat-bad guy!
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As a dental hygienist of some twenty years experience I can totally relate to wanting to go ape shit on people. Sometimes it felt like I was down to my last nerve and they were on it.
I bet this guy gets his own reality show. Whaddya think? “The Jettisons” or “The Real Wackos of JFK” maybe?
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“The Jettisons,” no doubt.
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Maybe he’ll go over to Jersey Shore and do a little queer eye for the guys!
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