I think that there were multiple issues that contributed to the overall situation, and each could have been dealt with in a better fashion in order to have obviated the situation:
- The FA should have distributed the coats; this is a standard part of the job and they are usually really good at remembering to do this. Of course there are times that other more important activities take priority, like finishing the stowage of any service materials in order to facilitate a safe landing. When that has happened to me in the past, I simply ask the FA if he/she could snag the coats before everyone leaves and give them out at the door. They are always happy to do so. Giving the gentleman his coat at the door would have prevented the in-aisle confrontation.
- The gentleman who blocked the aisle was clearly rude and probably realized that he was holding up the entire planeload of people behind him. He could simply have either stepped aside to let others pass or could have donned his coat outside the plane. This would have been the polite thing to do.
- As another poster pointed out, the OP could have asked before trying to sneak by, and that might have created a non-volatile situation. If, however, the coat-donner would have been obnoxious even after being asked, I think that the OP would just have had to wait.
The bottom line is that there is no changing some people who are either intrinsically rude, pathologically obstructive, or just unhappy in general. Ah, the sense of entitlement of some pax in F
