A tale of two COVID-19 realities

This is part of a series I’m publishing each week during COVID-19

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way — in short, the period was so far like the present period…

This is the first line in the novel “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens (often referred to as one of the top 100 books of all time). The novel was published in 1859 but set prior to then, starting in 1775 and continuing on to the French Revolution.

In recent weeks, I’ve seen a large and growing divide between two separate and distinct realities. Of course, there is also a middle ground somewhere in-between but for simplicity, I’m going to focus on the two ends of the dumbbell.

For some, it was the best of times.

To be clear, I would put myself in this category. Sure, I was laid off from a high powered and high-paying job, but things are going pretty well for me. I have financial liquidity, which has helped me make investments and generate capital gains during a period of price dislocation. Our kids are home and “bored” but have an Au Pair who helps keep them intellectually and physically…