CULTURE: Jet Blue Flight Attendant (Out with HIV) Is Instant Hero!

Steven Slater, the flight attendant who blew a fuse yesterday on a JetBlue plane at JFK and took off down the emergency chute—but not before grabbing a couple of beers—is turning into a folk hero to masses of people who put up with rude customers and lie in bed dreaming up spectacular ways to quit crappy jobs (to be known henceforth as "pulling a Slater"). "It's something we all fantasize about," one admirer told the Daily News. "But we have kids and a mortgage or are just too chicken —or sane—to go through with it."

Slater seemed quite happy after his mad-as-hell moment, reports a passenger on the plane who also rode with Slater on the AirTrain away from JFK. And he was still smiling as he was led out of his apartment building a few hours later by cops; maybe because he was apparently having sex with his partner when he was apprehended.

Slater, has told police that he’s HIV positive, sources tell the New York Daily News. If that weren’t bad enough, neighbors say his mother is dying of lung cancer. “She’s had two chemos and the prognosis is not good,” said one woman whose son lives with Slater. She described the 38-year-old as a nice guy.

Slater arraigned in court today on reckless endangerment and criminal mischief charges. The defense had asked the court to release Slater without bail, but the judge instead set bail at $2,500. Slater was smiling as he left the courtroom, according to the AP.

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