Monday, August 16, 2010

Jumpin' on the tabloid bandwagon!

Check this out...  I'm sure you've heard of Steven Slater, the wing-nut flight attendant that told off the unruly passenger on JetBlue, grabbed some beers and slid down the inflatable emergency exit slide.  Who hasn't?  All of last week, in NYC, at least, the story was getting as much press as the Tiger Woods debacle.


On Wednesday, I got a call routed from the Arbitrage office to my cell phone at 6:30 pm.  Nothing unusual here.  But when it announced the caller, I heard "Um, hi, this is Sheila, I'm a reporter fo-" and it cut out.

So anyway, I accept the call and we start talking and she tells me she's a reporter for the AM New York.  She's like "Does the name Steven Slater ring a bell?"

I recount what I remember from the story and she's excited I'm familiar.

I have no idea where this is going, but she's got a fun energy and... whatever.  I wasn't doing anything at the moment anyway so I just let her lead things.

Well, supposedly his dream job is to work in fashion.  She asks if I think he has a chance and what kind of advice I could give to him to help him out.


I tell her how most people that are fashion designers don't actually have formal training in apparel; Tom Ford has an Architecture degree, Kenneth Cole has a Law degree.  You don't need a degree to be in fashion, as the proliferation of celebrity fashion designers proves.  It's so prevalent, it's gotten to be a huge cliché.  I mean JWoww from Jersey Shore just launched her own label, Filthy Couture (actually I think a lot of her dresses are really sexy and it's totally my girlfriend's style, so no hate).


I said, basically, like so many things in the world, the people with a compelling idea or vision hire people with the technical skills to execute their ideas.  So I don't know what kind of unique perspective Steven Slater has, but yeah, I think he could succeed if he has something interesting to contribute to the landscape.

She asks me if he has any personality traits that would help him.  Of course, considering the context, it's a hilariously leading question haha...  Apparently I said, "He's got some spunk, and people in fashion like attitude... I'd rather work with him than a 'yes man.'"  I kind of was going for the idea of him sticking up for himself being a valuable trait.  Click on the image to read the little blurb:


And just because it's the diva-licious world of fashion, for every Naomi Campbell (who was banned from British Airways in 2008 for physically assaulting and spitting on a police officer and a flight attendant over lost baggage at Heathrow Airport), there are a ton of other kind-hearted, emotionally-stable people who are tearing things up as well (in the good way).


So while I appreciate and am entertained by the movie-like plot line of the story, I certainly don't think his temperament is an asset.  But it's such a freakin' hilarious series of events, I almost don't give a hoot.  Whether he goes into fashion or not, he's got options.

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