I have read a lot and talked a lot about the coronavirus over the past 3 months.  I have tried to put it, and it’s toll on the stock market into perspective.  For me, the pandemic feels a lot more like a 9/11 event than the “great recession” (the financial crisis of 2008-09).  I’m not, nor will I ever trivialize the events of September 11, 2001.  But 9/11 was an event, a horrific, terrible act of terrorism that shook our county to its core.  The stock market shut down for 7 days after 9/11.  We stayed in front of our TVs and watch the pile of smoldering wreckage for a month trying to come to grips with what had happened.  We questioned what travel would look like going forward.  Would there be air travel anytime soon? Would we ever be safe in large groups again? Sound familiar?

The financial crisis hit America in a completely different way.  It wasn’t one event it was the financial markets on the verge of collapse.   Greed was at its core and while it was detrimental to people’s 401k, five years later few people remember how close we came to economic ruin.

On the night of October 30, 2001, a kevlar-vested George Bush walked to the center of Yankee stadium to throw out the first pitch at game 3 of the World Series.  No secret service to escort him, just “W” in an FDNY jacket and the baseball.  He gave a “thumbs up” to the crowd, and threw a strike to Yankee catcher Todd Greene. With that pitch, America let out a sigh of relief.  Things would be normal again.

For the past two-plus months, we have been living a life of quarantine.  The same questions have arisen, “What will life look like after this? Will we ever be able to be safe in a large group?”  See, COVID-19 is an event.  A tragic pandemic that has killed thousands and brought fear and worries to the forefront of our lives.  When will we ever get back to “normal”?  For that answer, I turn to Dave Grohl.

Dave Grohl has been dubbed the “Nice guy of rock n’ roll”.  He’s the lead singer of the Foo Fighters (my wife’s favorite band).  The Foo’s, and Dave have never failed to put on a good show.  Besides being a rock n’ roll icon, Dave Grohl is a writer, director, and producer.  He recently wrote a wonderful piece for the Atlantic (click here to read it) about live music and what it will mean when we can enjoy that together again.

Like President Bush in 2001 throwing that first pitch.  We need Dave Grohl to take the stage with 50,000 screaming fans in attendance, hit that first big chord on his guitar and America can breathe a sigh of relief that we are back and things are gonna be ok.