Venting one's frustration on the job is as old as employment itself. But the term "going postal" started in the Post Office. I think Newman on Seinfield characterized it best when he said, "The mail, it just keeps coming and coming. And then there's ads, and Mother's day...and after a while you just can't take it anymore! I tell you, you just can't take it!!" Going postal is nothing new.

But after the Jet Blue steward (oops I mean flight attendant), went "postal" we may have to re-name this phenomenom to "Going Slater".

It doesn't surprise me that passengers are rude or that flight attendants lose their cool. Even to the degree of cussing out someone on the loud speaker and engaging the emergency slide to exit the plane. People lose their cool all the time, it's nothing new. I don't agree with it, but it happens.

Do you know what surprises me? That people would actually call this behavior heroic. That people would applaud this man for venting in such a way. It surprises me that this man has gained thousands of new people that follow him on facebook and other social media. They are making T Shirts for him, giving him money to free him from his legal charges, he has now become the latest and greatest culture hero.

What ever happened to applauding people that work hard and don't lose their cool? People who do their jobs with professionalism and integrity? Has our culture lost it's mind? I guess the answer to that is, YES! Maybe our culture is going postal.

I would rather applaud people who apply the following characteristics to their work place:

Proverbs 14:29 (NIV): A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.

Proverbs 15:1 (NIV): A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:18 (NIV): A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.
Proverbs 17:27 (NIV): A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered.
Proverbs 12:16 (NIV): A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.
Proverbs 16:32 (NIV): Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

Go postal or go Proverbs, the choice is ours.

Pastor Tim