Photo: Getty Images

Mark Madoff used to have a wonderful life and now it sucks, basically. Let's review the things that went horribly wrong for him over the past year: (1) Right before Christmas, his dad, for whom he worked, was arrested for running the biggest Ponzi scheme ever, and everyone assumes Mark was either in on it, or an idiot. (2) His dad then added insult to injury by saying in an interview that he "didn't give a shit" about his sons. (3) He's being sued by the trustee recovering the funds from said scheme for $200 million. (4) He's gotten kind of fat. (5) Everyone knows that this is hereditary, which is just great.

All in all, we can't say we blame him for attempting to run away from it all the other night after a fight with his wife, Stephanie.

He probably just wanted to get away from it all. Be someone else for a change. A normal Joe. So, according to the Post, he hopped on his "Vespa scooter ... and sped off."

Hours later, at about 1:30 a.m., a worried Stephanie called cops to report him missing.

When Mark reappeared at his SoHo residence yesterday morning, he told Stephanie he had spent the night at the nearby Soho Grand Hotel after checking in under a different name and paying cash, according to sources.

Madoff then called police and said that he was OK — but also that he has been under a significant amount of stress recently, sources said.

Of course, normal Joes don't get to have Vespa scooters, or cash to stay in fancy hotels. But Mark doesn't know that yet. He's just learning.

Madoff son 'runs away' [NYP]