Even so, I find it pretty annoying having the placement swapped, because when you are not flying you have to stand halfway out of the block to build up, and I always forget the swapping. Also, placing a scaffolding piece under another scaffolding piece (this is a bug too, it is hard to come by because scaffolds break when you break the one under them) will instead place it on top, which I actually think is cool.
I am pretty sure any mob can get stuck in any block.