Originally Posted by
wethereyet
When I ask for things like this, I play it with a , "I hate to be a pain but is ther any chance you could _________"
At least it lets FA know you're asking for non standard request and acknowledging it up front.
That's the way I also generally handle things like this. Imagine my surprise to read the article on the front page this morning about a new FA's first impressions: something like "when a passenger starts with 'I don't want to put you to any trouble, but...,' I know they'll put me to kore trouble than anyone else on the plane." Different strokes for different folks!