Your last blog entry is setting off my pregnancy pukes!

[M-theory]

I like to read Pioneer Woman when I start to get homesick for Dallas. As I was reading backwards, I stumbled upon this: http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2009/10/harses/

"Though I haven’t yet gotten around to removing the photo of the Sesame Noodles from the main page of ThePioneerWoman.com (a dear pregnant reader emailed to say it triggered her morning sickness at all hours of the day)...Pregnant girl: I have to dig into the back end of my website to remove the slimy, wiggly Sesame Noodles from the front page. Please sniff a lemon and continue to be patient with me. I feel your pain. I feel your gags."

Alrighty. Disclaimer: I've never been pregnant, so I can't appreciate at all how bad the "morning" sickness and food aversion can be. That said, I'm 100% positive that if there were a picture on a blog I read that was setting me off, I would just avoid the blog until the author changed it rather than being so presumptuous as to complain. This is particularly since PW's fame comes from her food blogging. I think if I were a famous food blogger and someone complained that a food pic was setting off their morning sickness, my response would be along the lines of "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear it - please check back in a few days after I've posted a new recipe!"

She was really nice to remove it, but I don't think she was obligated by etiquette to do so. If a pregnant woman visits someone's house and they have a still life of fruit on the wall that makes her want to hurl, should she ask them to take it down while she's there, or should she leave? Is blog etiquette so radically different from IRL etiquette that I'm missing something here?

[KenveeB]

Wow!  I can't imagine actually writing someone to complain about that.  Like you, I would just avoid the blog for a day or two until it changed.  Maybe if it was a genuinely gross picture -- not just something temporarily setting me off -- and it was the main picture that would always show up instead of being in a blog entry, then I might email with a heads up.  But even that would be a close call.

[hobish]

I have been pregnant and had morning sickness and still think the letter writer was acting ridiculous. Why was she clicking on it "at all hours of the day" if she knew it makes her ill? That's not particularly bright. 

[Bluenomi]

Ok as someone who suffered from some shocking morning sickness I think she should have just avoided the website. I didn't even want to ask people I wokr with everyday to not eat their lunch near me, let alone ask a complete stranger to change their website for me!

[KimberlyRose]

OK, during my second pregnancy, I had a lot of nausea, and sometimes food photos would trigger the nausea.  My solution was to avoid sites that featured a lot of food photos, not to write to the siteowners and whine about it.  Talk about being a special snowflake.

[MrsJWine]

If she complained seriously, then that's definitely rude.  But we don't really know the correspondence that went on between them.

I can totally see writing a joking comment to one of my favorite bloggers saying something like, "Ah!  That picture of those noodles is killing me!"  I've seen people leave comments like that on blogs, in fact, and it's always been with obvious humor.  She may have decided to take it down anyway just because she's a nice person and wanted to accommodate the pregnant lady.  But I don't think we can call PW rude without know exactly what was said.

[M-theory]

If she complained seriously, then that's definitely rude.  But we don't really know the correspondence that went on between them.

I can totally see writing a joking comment to one of my favorite bloggers saying something like, "Ah!  That picture of those noodles is killing me!"  I've seen people leave comments like that on blogs, in fact, and it's always been with obvious humor.  She may have decided to take it down anyway just because she's a nice person and wanted to accommodate the pregnant lady.  But I don't think we can call PW rude without know exactly what was said.

Well, she did say that the pregnant lady e-mailed her. I can imagine leaving a joking comment, although I personally wouldn't joke about people's food photos making me queasy because it just seems rude, even considering the pregnancy heaves. I definitely can't imagine how one sends an e-mail saying the same thing that doesn't come across as odd or pushy.

I really think the pregnant lady was a snowflake for saying anything at all, whether or not she specifically asked the photo be removed, and that PW was a way nicer person than me for catering to her.

[TootsNYC]

I think it's possible that Pregnant Lady mentioned it in passing, or asked it as a favor (perhaps because she is a regular reader--from the description--and feels she has a semi-personal relationship with the blogger), so that she can continue to visit the blog often.

if the photo is lingering several days, the Pregnant Lady may have felt it would be fair to request it.

And I do think, actually, it would be fair for a *regular* reader of a blog to say, "hey, would you be willing? because I discovered that it doesn't matter what time of day, even in the evening when my nausea is lower, it still bothers me, and I really miss reading your blog."

The blogger didn't sound upset to me. Did she come across as upset to the rest of you?

[M-theory]

I think it's possible that Pregnant Lady mentioned it in passing, or asked it as a favor (perhaps because she is a regular reader--from the description--and feels she has a semi-personal rel@tionship with the blogger), so that she can continue to visit the blog often.

if the photo is lingering several days, the Pregnant Lady may have felt it would be fair to request it.

And I do think, actually, it would be fair for a *regular* reader of a blog to say, "hey, would you be willing? because I discovered that it doesn't matter what time of day, even in the evening when my nausea is lower, it still bothers me, and I really miss reading your blog."

The blogger didn't sound upset to me. Did she come across as upset to the rest of you?

How do you e-mail someone in passing?

I don't think PW was upset - actually, I doubt much fazes someone who lives on a cattle ranch raising 4 kids away from the amenities of the big city. But that doesn't make the pregnant lady any less of a snowflake. As KenveeB said, it's not like the photo of sesame noodles was going to be her new blog header graphic - it was just there for a couple of days until she posted a new recipe. Besides, you can set images not to auto-load in both IE and Flamingvixen, at least.

[Just Lori]

It sounds to me like the picture was on the main page of the blog, regardless of what day it was and whether she had posted new recipes.  I can see someone writing, "Hey, I love your blog, but I have to be honest, the picture of sesame noodles is turning my pregnant stomach.  Is there any way you can put a different photo on your main page?"

I think we've said that it's not rude to ask, as long as you're willing to accept "no" for an answer. 

[M-theory]

It sounds to me like the picture was on the main page of the blog, regardless of what day it was and whether she had posted new recipes.  I can see someone writing, "Hey, I love your blog, but I have to be honest, the picture of sesame noodles is turning my pregnant stomach.  Is there any way you can put a different photo on your main page?"

I think we've said that it's not rude to ask, as long as you're willing to accept "no" for an answer. 

If she posted a new blog entry, the previous entry would be below it and presumably out of sight since she generally posts copious pictures. Pregnant lady could then refrain from scrolling down.

I, for one, can think of lots of times that it would be rude to ask, and this is a great example.

[TootsNYC]

I think it's possible that Pregnant Lady mentioned it in passing, or asked it as a favor (perhaps because she is a regular reader--from the description--and feels she has a semi-personal rel@tionship with the blogger), so that she can continue to visit the blog often.

if the photo is lingering several days, the Pregnant Lady may have felt it would be fair to request it.

And I do think, actually, it would be fair for a *regular* reader of a blog to say, "hey, would you be willing? because I discovered that it doesn't matter what time of day, even in the evening when my nausea is lower, it still bothers me, and I really miss reading your blog."

The blogger didn't sound upset to me. Did she come across as upset to the rest of you?

How do you e-mail someone in passing?

I don't think PW was upset - actually, I doubt much fazes someone who lives on a cattle ranch raising 4 kids away from the amenities of the big city. But that doesn't make the pregnant lady any less of a snowflake. As KenveeB said, it's not like the photo of sesame noodles was going to be her new blog header graphic - it was just there for a couple of days until she posted a new recipe. Besides, you can set images not to auto-load in both IE and Flamingvixen, at least.

You e-mail them about something else, and you mention the nausea issue as a small point within that e-mail.

[TootsNYC]

From the OP, and from the website:

a dear pregnant reader

The blog writer chose the adjective: "dear"

I think that's an important piece of context. it sounds as though the blog writer feels a connection to this reader as well.

s KenveeB said, it's not like the photo of sesame noodles was going to be her new blog header graphic - it was just there for a couple of days until she posted a new recipe. Besides, you can set images not to auto-load in both IE and Flamingvixen, at least.

Actually, the website design has a huge main photo at the top, and it is a *slideshow* of past posts, so the photos shift through. If you wanted to see the pictures of the new posts (and on this blog, it looks like that's a huge part of its appeal), you will see those pictures at the top over and over again.

(and it looks as though the noodles pic is down now.)

[Malaika]

PW is one of my favorite bloggers and I was reading this site when that picture was up.  It was a side picture on the main page and something you would see everytime you opened the site.  They tend to stay up at least a couple of weeks if not a month or more.  Currently, if you go to thepioneerwoman.com, there is a picture of delicious looking rolls in that space (under the title Heavenly Recipes). 

It may or may not be special snowflakey but if it didn't bother the blogger, it doesn't bother me (the fact that PW has had four kids may have given her more sympathy).  Which I guess leads me to a conundrum: are you a special snowflake if the person you are impacting isn't bothered by your action/request?

[hobish]

There are plenty of posts on ths board that i don't like. Somehow i don't think the poster or the Dame would find it pleased if i asked for them to be removed due to offending my delicate sensibilities -  no matter how nicely or passively it was asked. Asking may not be rude in and of itself; but it is definitely special snowflakey.