bikecommuter13, Everybody, with few exceptions, tries not to cross chain their drive trains, but I don't feel it should be taken too far, as in your example.

With a bum knee I have many triples and all are set up so that the middle chain ring can access all cogs, the inner chain ring is used primarily with the inner cogs, where that combination is needed and the outer chain ring is used primarily with the outer cogs. I often use the large chain ring with a cog somewhere in the middle, no problems.

With a derailleur system there is only one combination of cog and chain ring that might result in a correct chain line. Occasional cross chaining, even at the maximum, has little effect on component life.

Brad