my new hero

Any foreigner who has lived in Asia, specifically China, at one time or another has been shocked at the total disregard for the fasten seatbelt sign when flying. The times this rule is most ignored, is during takeoff and landing, naturally. How many times have I seen someone get up to get something out of the overhead compartment when we are only 100 feet off the ground? More than I can count.

How many times during taxiing to the gate after landing have people started to flood the aisles and collect their bags? Nearly the entire plane every single time. The stewardesses act mortified, but not surprised by the inability to adhere to the rules. They usually shout at passengers to 'sit down' because its 'dangerous' - all while smartly remaining seated in their chairs. This scene is so typical.

So when I read about the Jet Blue Diva (left) - he became my hero in a single moment. Not only is this guy not taking any shit, he made the exit of a lifetime. Something us mere mortals only dream of in our 'what if' scenarios.

Here's a summary of what went down from perezhilton.com:

Steven Slater, a flight attendant on JetBlue airlines, has become an instant internet sensation after he decided that he had had enough with his job last night, cursed out a passenger, grabbed a beer, and evacuated the plane by deploying the emergency exit slide!

Slater got into an argument with a passenger who was attempting to take their luggage out of the compartment before the flight had completely landed at JFK. The luggage ended up hitting him in the face, and the passenger refused to apologize for causing the incident, and cursed at Slater.

As the plane landed, Slater got on the speaker and gave the entire plane a piece of his mind! He then grabbed a beer, deployed the emergency slide and took off down it!

Authorities apprehended him at his Queens home and he's since been charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, trespassing, and being an all-around badass.

You can show your support of Steven on one of his many Facebook fan pages HERE!

I laughed so hard when I read this. Of course its not right for him to open the emergency exit and slide outta there with a roadie in hand. But that passenger should also be in trouble for reckless endangerment and its not ok to curse out the steward for doing his job! Dude was endangering other passengers in the first place - and its sad that only Slater is being punished.

All I know is Slater would not be able to handle flying in China - he'd be overwhelmed by the chaos. Then again, the story never said where the flight originated...