Originally Posted by
thegeneral
You can't disregard FA instructions, period. That's the law. This includes things like praying. Being highly religious doesn't make what he did any better than the jerk sitting up front using his/her phone after the FA has instructed that all electronics be turned off.
There is an expectation of reasonableness - if the flight was actually boarding, the guy should have asked the FA is this was a good place to stand, he needs about 5 minutes and won't be able to move during that time. Likely he picked his spot unknowingly in the way of the crew and they played a power game. This is if the flight was truly still boarding - none of us know what the timing actually was.
All of that said - calling the police to remove the guy seems beyond excessive. I was once asked for identification by an FA -- this is outside the bounds of their job and they are not supposed to do this other than checking for age when buying alcohol. I refused, but did comply with what was his third request for just my bp ... the entire story is a long one but the guy was totally wrong and his actions inappropriate. Not only did I not get in trouble, but my complaint didn't quite get him fired (although I might be wrong on that one, I believe he was a problem child from something else I heard), but he was seriously sanctioned as a result.
To me - your "jump when they say jump" attitude is as bad as the meek cattle going through security with no question as to what/why/how.