Your last blog entry is setting off my pregnancy pukes!

[jimithing]

At the very least, I would hope the nauseous person would ask to sit in a different chair so they don't have to look at it.

And this is akin to what we are saying. If you don't want to look at it, then you don't click over on that specific page. With the PW website, you can subscribe to certain parts of her site. You don't have to go to the main page to get to her photography blog, or her food blog, etc. Not seeing that picture is completely avoidable.

So, she should "sit in a different chair" by avoiding that page all together.

[Bob Ducca]

At the very least, I would hope the nauseous person would ask to sit in a different chair so they don't have to look at it.

And this is akin to what we are saying. If you don't want to look at it, then you don't click over on that specific page. With the PW website, you can subscribe to certain parts of her site. You don't have to go to the main page to get to her photography blog, or her food blog, etc. Not seeing that picture is completely avoidable.

So, she should "sit in a different chair" by avoiding that page all together.

Exactly.  We're not talking about smells, which are unavoidable, or noises, which are hard to avoid, but sights.  She can (and should) stay away from the food page altogether now that she knows pictures of food can cause her nausea.  If she continues to visit the blog after knowing the picture is there, I think it is entitled to expect the blog to change to suit her.

[TootsNYC]

But is it entitled to ASK?

Given that she may have had correspondence with the blog writer, and in the case of someone visiting my home, I don't think so. I don't think it's rude at all to say, "my pregnancy quirk is causing me trouble; can we set that photograph in the other room while I'm here? It's hard to avoid it."

This is not asking me to make a permanent change in the decor of my room. And though the pics stay up on that blog for a while, again, this is not asking for a *major* design change.

[Bob Ducca]

But is it entitled to ASK?

Given that she may have had correspondence with the blog writer, and in the case of someone visiting my home, I don't think so. I don't think it's rude at all to say, "my pregnancy quirk is causing me trouble; can we set that photograph in the other room while I'm here? It's hard to avoid it."

This is not asking me to make a permanent change in the decor of my room. And though the pics stay up on that blog for a while, again, this is not asking for a *major* design change.

Yes, I think it's entitled to ask.  I don't think it's inherently rude or offensive; that's up to the person being asked.  I literally cannot imagine myself asking someone to make a change to their writing, artwork, home, blog, etc. because of something I could easily control myself.

In the blog example, she shouldn't be reading food blogs if pictures of food cause her nausea.  It strikes me as silly to ask, anyway, because pictures of food are impossible to avoid unless you don't read magazines, surf the internet, watch movies, or watch television.  So, yes, I think it is entitled to voluntarily read a blog about food, then complain that a picture of food is making her sick.

To use the home analogy, if there was absolutely no way I could avoid looking at the picture, I might mention it if it was my mother or someone to whom I was extremely close.  Anyone else: no, I would control it as best I could and leave early on.

Here's my reasoning: I have no way of knowing how the picture on your wall is hung, or how attached you are to the picture.  I have no way of knowing physical limitations you may have that prevent you from moving the picture.  I understand that the position of the board seems to be that it's never rude to ask something, but I am uncomfortable putting people in a potentially awkward situation.

In the blog example, it is impossible for anyone to know how much work bloggers put into their individual blogs.  They could have a designer who does everything for them, they could be using pre-made templates, or they could be entering in code themselves, which can be very time consuming and difficult.  If the request is made with the assumption, "Oh, this is no bother for you," it is entitled.

[jimithing]

But is it entitled to ASK?

Given that she may have had correspondence with the blog writer, and in the case of someone visiting my home, I don't think so. I don't think it's rude at all to say, "my pregnancy quirk is causing me trouble; can we set that photograph in the other room while I'm here? It's hard to avoid it."

This is not asking me to make a permanent change in the decor of my room. And though the pics stay up on that blog for a while, again, this is not asking for a *major* design change.

Yes, I think it's entitled to ask.  I don't think it's inherently rude or offensive; that's up to the person being asked.  I literally cannot imagine myself asking someone to make a change to their writing, artwork, home, blog, etc. because of something I could easily control myself.

I think this is the crux of the issue for me. I think a request becomes entitled when I can easily do something to rectify the situation. Why should someone else have to make a change because I choose not to make any effort to change the situation that I have complete control of?

I think we are getting too caught up in the home analogy. The bottom line, this isn't someone's actual home. All that this takes is literally the click of the mouse to avoid seeing this picture. That's it. To not do that, but to expect someone else to do all the work for you is entitled, IMO.