[rbg81]

If I read the article right, he lost the Marriot job shortly before he jointed TROP. He apparently had other troubles as well (like just getting beaten up and was in danger of losing an eye). In short, he was probably at a low point in his life & questioning his basic assumptions when the Dark Side snagged him.

[Commie Basher]

As I read it, he asked to transfer from his Marriot job in L.A. for anohter Marriot job in NY. Which he also found unsatisfactory. It was he who initiated the changes in his life, because he was dissatisfied.

Yeah, he was at a low point, though his employer, friends, and girlfriends had no problem with him.

He sounds like a lot of people who go on to join Christian fundamentalist or Hari Krishna or New Age groups. He was down on Western materialism/consumerism, and "looking for something." But not because he was a loser or a nerd.