It's one extreme or the other, it seems. I too have had an FA ask me to put up a light jacket that I was holding in my lap while in an exit row. Her reason was, and I quote, "In an accident it could come up and cover your face and you wouldn't be able to see to help me." I was so amused by her statement I had to follow her suggestion.
The other extreme happened just a few weeks ago on a Mesa flight. I was in an emergency exit seat and on the other side were two Korean guys who had NO, NADA, ZILCH grasp of English. When the FA came around to ask them if they would be willing to help, blah, blah, blah, they just looked at her and made it obvious that they didn't speak English. She told them they would have to move (like they wouldn't have understood the other things she said, but would grasp "You have to move"). They just kept on smiling at her and shrugging their shoulders. She looked at me and said, "It's too much trouble to move them - you make sure you help me if I need it, okay?" I guess I should have reported it to United, but she was so clueless, I felt sorry for her.