I’ve been getting endless pitches from PR folks about Steven Slater, the JetBlue airline attendant who quit recently in a spectacular fashion.

If you haven’t heard about him, he got so frustrated with a mean passenger that he cursed over the loud speaker, grabbed some beers, and then illegally unfurled the plane’s emergency slide, jumped on it and headed home.

Everyone, including me I suppose, is trying to jump on Slater’s new-found fame to advance their own agendas — getting press for a client, getting people to read stories and blog posts, etc. But much of the coverage has centered on how frustrated workers are today.

It is so true. I think a word may be added to our lexicon “Slatering,” essentially meaning, “take this job and shove it.”

It’s a great story and one that touches everyone because so many have daydreamed about slatering, but quitting the way Slater did is probably only acceptable once. So should the rest of us try to leave more gracefully? (more…)