The Not So Friendly Skies

I'm sure you've heard about the meltdown that flight attendant, Stephen Slater had aboard a JetBlue Airways flight recently. It seems that a passenger was rummaging around in the overhead compartment while the plane was still taxiing to the gate. First of all, don't you hate those people? No matter where you go, or what you are doing, there is always that one person that is breaking the rules. What about the person that won't turn off their cell phone at the movies? What about the person that cuts in line at the amusement park? What about the person that has 57 items in the under 10 item checkout lane? I could go on and on. As a former customer service employee of the United States Postal Service I can understand the frustration that Mr. Slater must have felt. I have been threatened to burn in hell, cursed at, called a pigeon holer (whatever that is) as well as other unmentionable salutations all because I was standing at the front counter. On more than one occasion I wanted to "Grab a beer, open the emergency slide and get the hell out of there." I'm all about customer service but at some point the customer is not always right. And that point is usually when they are not following the rules. Rules are meant to be followed, not broken. They just don't make them for shits and giggles, you know. They are there for a reason. Would I have done what Mr. Slater did? I'm not sure. I know I wouldn't want to be facing criminal charges because I was just doing my job. Why hasn't the person that stood up while the plane was taxiing been charged with anything? Surely, there's a misdemeanor charge for not obeying official instruction or something, right? Wouldn't it have been awesome if Slater had looked at the Air Marshall and said, "Can I get some help here?" I bet that passenger would have sat down and stayed in their seat if they had a 9M pointed at them...