“To the passenger who called me a m—f–er, f— you.”

And with that Steven Slater, a 38-year-old JetBlue flight attendant told off a passenger and then made his spectacular exit from the emergency slide, turning him into an instant folk hero.

The incident began Monday on a plane that had just landed at JFK. A JetBlue official told the New York Times:

One passenger stood up to retrieve belongings from the overhead compartment before the crew had given permission. Mr. Slater instructed the person to remain seated. The passenger defied him. Mr. Slater reached the passenger just as the person was pulling down the luggage, which struck Mr. Slater in the head. Mr. Slater asked for an apology. The passenger instead cursed at him. Mr. Slater got on the plane’s public-address system and cursed out the passenger for all to hear.

And now we get to the good part. According to passenger accounts, Slater reportedly let it rip over the intercom:

“To the passenger who called me a m—f–er, f— you. I’ve been in the business 28 years. I’ve had it. That’s it.”

In a separate story, cops said Slater announced this:

“To the f—–g a–hole who told me to f— off, it’s been a good 28 years.”

Slater, who’s been in the business 20 not 28 years, then grabbed his bags, a beer, activated the emergency inflatable chute and slid off the plane.

A day after Slater’s tirade and grand takeoff, he’s now the talk of Google and Twitter. One of several Facebook pages devoted to Slater has more than 28,000 fans. The page includes hundreds of messages not just from fellow flight attendants but from frustrated workers who harbor that other “American Dream” of telling off their employers. Below is a sampling of those Facebook kudos:

— Steven Hobbs: For EVERY Flight Attendant in America who has had it with rude passengers thinking that they can do or say whatever they want, I say THANK YOU!!! — Frank Basso: Way to go, dude!!! Any who work in the service industry totally get it. You rock! — Michelle Stiller: I LOVE IT! You stuck up for every one of us who has had it with rude, obnoxious behavior! What happened to human kindness…treating others how we would like to be treated? — Ann Brandolini: I work with the public day in and day out…I commend this guy to have the balls to do what some of us only fantasize about! — Christine Strickland Murphy: You are an epic hero for all of us who have always wanted to say “Take this job and shove it.” Good for you! Nobody deserves to get berated on a daily basis.

Here are other noteworthy Steven Slater-related links:

— Steven Slater

— Steven Slater

— Steven Slater

— Free Steven Slater

— I Support Steven Slater

— I hate the m—–f—-r who called Steven Slater a m—–f—-r

— Steven Slater: Hero of the Working Man

— I Slide for Steven Slater, Because I Understand

— Steven Slater Legal Defense Fund

— What would Steven Slater Do?

— “Le stewart qui s’auto-evacue en toboggan” (Translation according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “The flight attendant who auto-evacuated on the slide.”)

— Contact JetBlue in support of Steven