Textbooks on lubrication show that a centrally pivoted hydrodynamic plane slider bearing can carry no load, and imply that in practical bearings the pivot must be offset. In practice offset pivots are the exception. This is attributed in the technical literature to a complex combination of thermal and elastic distortions. We show that operation is in principle possible purely as the result of the hydrodynamic pressures bending the pad to a desirable shape. Calculations for a wide pad suggest that successful operation requires only that a parameter p/⁴/(E/h_min) lie within the very wide range 20-330.