Michael Bloomberg is the Mayor of New York City. He's no friend to games, also no friend to folks who take a desk-break from their jobs. According to the Associated Press,
The Republican mayor stopped by the city's legislative office in Albany a few weeks ago when he was visiting the state Capitol to hear the governor's State of the State address.
Office assistant Edward Greenwood IX was going over some papers at his desk as Bloomberg made the rounds with his photographer, greeting workers and posing for pictures. When the mayor reached him, Greenwood stood, they shook hands and the photographer snapped a photo.
But the eagle-eyed mayor - a billionaire former businessman with a certain idea of how offices should be run - noticed Greenwood's game of solitaire glowing on his screen. He said nothing about it to Greenwood but later told an aide to give him the ax.
Sacking of the six-year veteran of the company is quite a heavy way to make an example. Bloomberg explains,
"There's nothing wrong with taking a break, but during the business day, at your desk, that's not appropriate behavior."
It's rather unfortunate, then, that Microsoft chose to include games in their operating system as a default option.
Let this be a lesson for all those Patience-addicted people out there: taking your pastime to the office may result in the loss of your job. Sure it may be harsh, but think of the upside: you'll have loads of free time for playing Solitaire.
