Passing over whether it's even acceptable that such a story counts as news nowadays, let us ask ourselves why such behavior elicits many a "Hell yeah!" from the average American. Perhaps it is not so surprising. This is the land where the political candidate with the most votes is the one people want to have a beer with. This is the place where earning a postgraduate degree makes you an out-of-touch elitist, where Joe Six-Pack is held in high esteem, where mistakenly using the nonexistent word refudiate is hailed as a daring and impressive move instead of the inevitable consequence of misplacing (or indeed, refusing to purchase) a dictionary. Maybe a man who lets his testosterone flow so openly is the natural hero of the same people who disparage arugula.
And yes, perhaps it is true that I have simply not been wronged enough by the world to appreciate the cathartic pleasure one reputedly receives from hearing of such a display. I am, after all, nineteen, and have only been on the payroll for three establishments thus far. The passenger in question was being very rude, and she did not listen to instructions. I empathize with how Mr. Slater was probably feeling, and as someone who in the past has had trouble with not stooping to the level of an antagonistic acquaintance, I understand how hard it can be to keep one's temper under control.
But you know what? The last time I ever had a fit was when my seventeen-year-old brother got on my nerves and I gave in to a childish impulse. I have made my fair share of mistakes over this past year, but I was taught to recognize that my actions have consequences, and to own up to them when I am in the wrong. Flying out at someone in a rage is something that is excusable in a five-year-old. It is not the proper behavior of a nineteen-year-old college student at home, and it is certainly not the proper behavior of a grown man in his place of work. I get that even the best of us occasionally succumbs to our frustrations, but we have the right to expect professionalism from our service workers. We don't have the right to lash out at them when we don't follow the rules ourselves, and the woman who so irked Mr. Slater was most definitely out of bounds. However, that does not make it tolerable to launch into adolescent tantrums, and then turn around and face authority with contempt. Is a little civility too much to ask for?
Maybe. But heroes are people who put others before themselves, who sacrifice and stand up for what is right. There was nothing about Mr. Slater's behavior that wasn't petty and selfish, and it's time we recognized that.
