“I Never Saw My Kids,” He Said. “Now, I See Them All the Time”

A few thoughts as we await the recounts and the lawsuits.

• Game on.
• I was talking with a client this week who used to commute to Boston every day. It was an hour and a half each way. It was a soul-sucking endeavor. “I never saw my kids,” he said. “Now, I see them all the time.” (for better or worse, ha! My comment). He’s working from home and is as productive as ever. He emphatically stated, “I’m never commuting back to the city AGAIN. I don’t care what I have to do.”
• I’ve been thinking about this a lot.
• We aren’t going back to pre-COVID America—vaccine or no vaccine.
• You know from these posts, here, here, and here, I’ve touched on the affordability, or lack thereof, from the city exodus. Pre-COVID, service industry workers ie: waiters, waitresses, bartenders, etc., were being priced out of the tourist destinations like Newport where they serve.
• Lockdowns have accelerated the lack of affordable real estate in tourist towns, and in the suburbs. If you want to buy a home, it’s a cash deal, or you miss the boat.
• It cannot go on like this because those providing the services can’t afford it. They’re driving an hour each way in the middle of the night after a long shift and can barely pay rent at that.
• What’s the takeaway?
• Two counter-trends, megatrends, in my opinion, are taking hold, and I see them picking up steam.
• FIRE and tiny home communities.
• FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early), in thinking about my client above, is all about doing MORE with less. It’s a thing. Check it out.
• I love small homes.
• Tiny home communities remove the affordability issue for those with SKILLS (the service industry is loaded with skillful Americans). It’s an Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged type of deal where talent goes to LIVE and work, not just work and die a little bit each day. You’ll want to live in places like this because it’s where champions of the individual— not government—are the heroes.
• The power of the individual is laid out in the first ten amendments. It’s crystal clear. It’s working for Americans. For evidence, take a look at the record gun sales this year, and it’s not even over yet.
• Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—all three are up to you.
• All men are created equal—NOT guaranteed equal outcomes.
• The second wave of lockdowns is coming. Keep one of my favorite quotes, handy. “The most beautiful trips I took were through books, on my couch, in my living room,” Yves Saint Laurent. I can’t wait to get back to Paris.
• Thank you for reading.

Action Line: Pass it on.

I wrote this for you on April 10, 2020:

You’re doing what you can in these eerie times. This Easter will certainly not be the same as those in the past. It feels like a 180 turn from this time last year when our family celebrated Easter in Paris.

A few years ago, in Paris, we discovered the home of Yves Saint Laurent, which is open to the public as a museum. A quote on the wall of his office explains a lot about how Saint Laurent was able to create year after year after year. It’s simple yet sophisticated, a philosophy that is most helpful in times like these. It gives us hope when we’re all stuck at home. It reads:

“The most beautiful trips I took were through books, on my couch, in my living room.”

Happy Easter to you and yours. Here’s something I wrote for you, something to look forward to, when we are free to move about the country, France, that is:

Standing on the steps of the Madeleine church in the 8^th arrondissement, looking down Rue Royale, you can see the Place de la Concorde. Where Rue Royale meets Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, across the street from Gucci, you’ll see the mint green awnings of maison Ladurée, home to the macaron (pronounced mah-kuh-ron)—meringue like cookies, the color of Easter eggs, sandwiched with an emulsified filling.

Groupe Holder is the private baking—not banking—conglomerate owned, founded and controlled by 77-year-old Francis Holder. The company is comprised of Ladurée’s 85 shops in 50 countries, the artisanal bakery-café chain Paul with 740 stores in 43 countries, and an industrial arm known as Chateau Blanc. “Long obsessed with America’s industrial food processes, Holder embraces smooth mass production, and that has propelled his rise,” explains Chloe Sorvino in “The Artisanal Industrialist,” her piece in Forbes: The World’s Billionaires. “But he balances affordability and speed with a distinctly French attitude about the best ingredients and product quality—still using fresh yellow butter in mass-produced loaves and pastries.”

Holder is responsible for France’s top three macaron sellers. The first two logically being Ladurée and Paul. The third may surprise you: McDonalds. McCafe macarons are not only popular in France, but also in Spain, Italy, Belgium and Japan. “Some were surprised about McDonald’s being third,” Holder says. “We said, ‘That’s obvious. We are the one who delivers them.’ Because McDonald’s is really loyal, this baker has factories throughout the world.”