I just saw this story and here are my thoughts. A pilot holds a special position of trust to all passengers, especially folks who are afraid of flying, and yes they exist even today. If a pilot varies from the expected norm of attire or professional confidence passengers are going to get very nervous very quickly. There is a hyper sensitivity in this era of social media as we're bombarded daily with stories of seemingly typical people doing horrible things. So when a pilot starts going off script, yes, passengers get frightened quickly. If ever there were a job where zero tolerance is justified it's an airplane pilot. I have zero willingness to ride in back with someone less than perfect sitting up front.