question:  What does the author mean when stating: "And the people were grateful"?
context: More Bang for the Buck A friend of mine offers a theory about why Bill Clinton's poll numbers stayed so high throughout the Lewinsky scandal: The news made it possible for serious-minded people to spend lots of time--at the office and over lunch--talking about semen stains, vaginal insertions, and blow jobs. A recent University of Chicago survey of 10,000 adults found that Americans are having considerably less sex than was generally thought. If that's true, many of us could use a little sexual self-improvement. Deb and I have what seems to us to be a perfectly fine amorous life, yet everywhere I turn the culture tells me--almost mocks me-- you can do better! What would happen to our sex life then, if Deb (who participated in this story because she loves me and because she has tenure) and I tried for the first time to make something happen to it? And so it was that we found ourselves for the first time ever in a sex-toy store, A Touch of Romance, located near our home in Los Angeles, across the street from a Macy's. The idea behind shops like these is to make obtaining the materials of sexual experimentation as ordinary as purchasing plumbing supplies or housewares. Which sort of works--the only sexual thrill I got from the visit was knowing that Microsoft just bought a cock ring. Most of them came in presized sets of three. But then I got to thinking: Under battlefield conditions it doesn't get out anyway. A woman I know says women's magazines are the best places in America to find sex tips. She's right--go ahead, just try to find a sewing pattern in Redbook . You're much more likely to land on "Try phone sex, dirty notes, porn videos, fantasy games and sex in new places. ... An article in the April Cosmopolitan , "The Six Best Sex Positions," seemed more promising than the Redbook playbook. Each position was accompanied by a succinct write-up and a stick-figure diagram.
output:  Since Americans are having considerably less sex than was generally thought, people were relieved for the opportunity to openly speak of sexual matters.
options:  Serious-minded people enjoyed the opportunity to discuss sexual matters because they wanted to investigate why the average American adult is sexually deprived.  People like to gossip about other people's private sexual lives.  President Clinton's approval ratings stayed up because people love sex scandals and found themselves justified in openly speaking of these matters.  Since Americans are having considerably less sex than was generally thought, people were relieved for the opportunity to openly speak of sexual matters.