This week JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater quit his job. What distinguishes him from the many other people who quit their jobs is how he did it. He reached his breaking point, cursed a passenger out on the loud speaker, grabbed a few beers, and slid down the emergency exit in a display of rebellion. He’d had enough of dealing with annoying passengers and was not going to take it anymore.

Frustration can drive people to have appropriate or even destructive outbursts.

Slater has become a hero to many people for his actions. Fan pages were set up for him on Facebook, as well as a legal defense fund. As of Wednesday there were well over 137,000 people on the fan page. His response was very over the top, yet people are cheering for him. Why? Because there are a lot of people who are frustrated with their jobs or someone in their lives and relate to how he felt.

Too many people don’t have it in them to take a stand on what bothers them so they get a sort of pleasure seeing someone do what they wish they could do.

Most don’t have it in them to do what Slater did, which to me is a good thing. They stew to themselves but take no action. Slater probably held his frustration in until he reached a boiling point that tipped all the other frustrations into his actions. Yet he might end up in jail and most likely will be unemployed. Taking a grand stand like he did feels good in the moment and may still feel good when getting a response like he did. But there are much better ways to handle frustration.

The huge outpouring from people shows that there’s a lot of unresolved frustration out there.

That in itself can be scary on some levels. I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of someone reaching that point which puts him or her over the edge. When you hold negative emotions out, they often release in a great big explosion, which isn’t healthy for you or the recipient of your venom. Those kind of outbursts are never good, unless you like negative consequences or to lose people’s respect or friendship. Or your job like Slater might.

It is so much better to address individual issues when they happen so you can let go of the emotions attached to the incident.

Instead of deciding, “I’m not gonna take it anymore” after many frustrations, decide to not allow situations you don’t like to happen without addressing them. If your job is so horrible, look for another one. If your boss is mean, find ways to address it. If you feel a lot of anger from the same situation over and over or because you feel people take advantage of you, vow, “I’m not gonna take it anymore” and speak up. Don’t yell at someone or pull a stunt like Slater. In a nice but firm, serious way, sit down with the person or someone at your job in a position to help you figure out a solution.

When you’re direct in a non-hostile way about something you don’t like, you get the best results and don’t alienate people.

DoorMats hold it in and stew, until they eventually explode, or make themselves sick, like I used to do. Nice People on Top speak up in a non-confrontational way and seek resolution. Then they let go of the negative emotions so they don’t build up. Slater will probably be okay, but following his example probably won’t get good results. Love yourself enough to clean up negatives as they happen so you can feel good. Happiness comes easier to people who speak up.

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