Thomas Sheridan has lead a relatively successful life; he has multiple degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara; he owns a manufacturing company out of Woodland Hills, California -- and he has a wife and two healthy children that he loves.
But like many men his age, he can't escape his nature.
"...there's this nagging feeling inside. It's like a little devil on my shoulder telling me what to do. I can't shake it."
"It's definitely a mid-life crisis. I keep telling myself it isn't anything I've done," his wife says.
Although his children were bewildered by the sight of their father in clothing he'd purchased at Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister, it seemed that his mid-life issues would never rise above the level of mild nuisance.
"I think he looks like a freak with an Abercrombie shirt on," his fourteen year old daughter Janine said. "But, other than being really embarrassing to me and my brother, it's harmless."
As was his new hairstyle, and his new large, wrap-around sunglasses.
But new clothes and sunglasses wouldn't cut it for Thomas. An image ingrained deep down in his psyche, dormant since adolescence emerged. The lure of the hugging the open road on a finely tuned motorcycle wouldn't stay hidden.
"The first thing I thought was 'I don't want my kids to grow up without a father.' He's never ridden a motorcycle before... I don't know what gave him the idea that he was a biker." His wife said.
The desire to rebel against personal, and social conventions are common symptoms of the mid-life crisis. Though Thomas has never broken a law in his life, other than rolling through a few stop signs now and then, as he explains, he too heard the call of the sirens of rebellion.
"I loved it. After I bought the bike, I didn't care about any new clothes or anything small like that. Being out on the road with all that power underneath me... man that was what I needed. I always saw bikers as kind of rebellious outlaws. That was what attracted me to it."
It seemed that the bike was a cure for some of Thomas' less dangerous mid-life crisis symptoms. He would ride three nights a week after work.
"Even though I was deathly afraid of him riding down PCH on that thing... I was happy to see that it took away his desire to wear all those ridiculous clothes. And the sex was better for awhile. It was like he was possessed by some sort of spirit." his wife said.
Like the new clothing purchases of earlier mid-life crisis stages, Thomas' purchase of a Harley Davidson didn't seem like it would break up the family. Life in the Sheridan household went on as it normally would for the first three months after Thomas started riding. And then gas prices sky-rocketed to over $4.50 per gallon...
"I felt rebellious, and cool. I was doing something dangerous. Then gas prices went through the roof and suddenly I'm not Thomas the badass biker. No, now I'm Thomas the sensible consumer."
When elderly neighbors started congratulating Thomas on his intelligent purchase that would surely save him a great deal of gas money, it was as if a knife had been driven directly through his heart and dreams.
"Yeah, I was really pissed. It's not even cool to ride a motorcycle now. Now it's just another one of my "sensible" decisions. Yeah, that's me, sensible Thomas."
His last vestige of release shattered, life at the Sheridan household deteriorated rapidly.
"He got moody and violent. He'd yell at me over the smallest things. One night he came home a little late and dinner wasn't ready. I was waiting for him to get home. I was hoping we could go out... but that set him off. He said he wished he never married me, and accused me of having an affair with the pool man. We don't have a pool though. It was out neighbors pool man. 'When would I have time to talk to him, I said.' That set him off. Then he tore up our sons room. He was sure that Tommy was smoking pot. I really think he was looking for some for himself."
"You know, you work hard your whole life, and then one day nothing seems right. I was always concentrating on getting a degree or building my business or taking care of the family that I never thought about myself. And the bike thing... I mean come on! That old bastard telling me that riding a motorcycle was smart and sensible... that fucking asshole."
"I've been staying with my sister in Reseda, I've got the kids with me. I mentioned counseling and he hung up on me. I don't really know what to do now," his wife lamented.
Thomas seems to be enjoying his time alone for now.
"I'm working some things out. I've been thinking alot. I'm really not sure if I want her to come back. I might move to Fiji and become a surfer," Thomas said.
It seems the current state of world economics has affected more than just the stock market.
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