The Inconvenienced Majority

I am a member of the Inconvenienced Majority. 

As of today, April 18, 2020, over 700,000 people in the United States have been confirmed to have

COVID-19. Over 37,000 have died. 22 million have applied for unemployment in the past four weeks. 

Yet, here I sit, healthy and employed. I am one of the lucky ones. The fact is, there are a lot of us. The

vast majority of Americans, over 90%, are healthy and employed right now. The only direct effect
COVID-19 has had on us, is that it has inconvenienced us. Hence the name, the Inconvenienced
Majority. 

We’re working from home or in a relatively safe environment and those paychecks are still rolling in.
We’re far away from the emergency departments and intensive care units. We’ve finished at least one
TV series and a few books. We’ve set up Zoom calls with our friends and family. We’ve finally cleaned
out the tupperware drawer or the garage. We’ve tried our hand at some new recipes or hobbies.
We’ve donated to some honorable causes. We’ve ordered from our favorite restaurants “to support”
them. Heck, we even got a little workout routine going. 

When this thing started, some of the Inconvenienced Majority may have even welcomed the slow down
from our fast paced life. I know I did. At the time, I had no idea of the severity of the issue or how long
it would last. Now, a month later, reality is setting in. I am becoming more inconvenienced. My
welcomed break is feeling more like a house arrest each day. But it’s a house arrest with very little
suffering. It doesn’t feel like I’m surviving a global pandemic of epic proportions. I know history is
unfolding before my eyes, but I don’t really feel like I'm part of it. I feel insignificant and helpless.    

This feeling got me thinking. Is this normal? Was there an Inconvenienced Marjory group in other
historical events of epic proportions? If so, maybe I can look to them for guidance?    

Let’s start with the Great Depression. What’s the first image that comes to mind? Let me guess. Men in
suits waiting in the unemployment line? A poor rural family devastated by the Dust Bowl? These
images are real, but they do not represent the Inconvenienced Majority of the time period. They do not
represent people like me. At the height of the Great Depression over 75% of Americans were employed.
Less than .1% of the country was affected by the dust bowl. In reality, during the Great Depression,
most people were working and most land was fertile.  

Let's do another one. World War II. What’s the first image that comes to mind? A soldier in combat,
maybe D-day or Okinawa? Rosie the Riveter? Only about 10% of America’s overall population served
in World War II, and only 14% of that 10% were infantry soldiers. 63% of women remained out of the
workforce during the war. In reality, during World War II, most American men did not fire a weapon and
most American women did not build one. 

These events and the people that lived through them are revered and honored today. We rightfully
celebrate what I am going to call the Affected Minority. The men waiting in the unemployment line. The
families displaced by the Dust Bowl. The GI storming the beaches. The women building the flying
fortresses. But in the background of history have always been the Inconvenienced Majority. Without
their sacrifices, as petty as they may seem at the time, the Affected Minority group would not prevail.       

Today is no different. In fact, with a viral pandemic, one could argue that the actions of the
Inconvenienced Majority are more important now than they were during the Great Depression or World
War II. The sick need us to social distance so that resources aren’t spread thin. Health care workers
need us to social distance so that we don’t end up in their overcrowded hospitals. The recently
unemployed need us to social distance so that this pandemic slows and stops sooner rather than later,
and they can get back to work. 

In real time this feels insignificant and helpless. I know. I’m one of you. It doesn’t feel honorable or
patriotic to stay in on a Friday night, order takeout, and watch TV. Filling my cart at the grocery store
while I know others have lost their jobs, can be a guilty feeling. Zoom meetings with friends, family, and
colleagues hardly make me feel like I’m fighting the good fight. 

However, would I scoff at someone who survived the Great Depression because they did so while
being employed? Would I question the patriotism of a stay-at-home mom from the World War II era,
because she didn’t work in a munitions factory? Hardly. Simply living through those times is a badge
of honor.  

Let’s live through this time. As many of us as possible. In order to do that we need the Inconvenienced
Majority to do their part. It’s not insignificant. It’s not helpless. It’s patriotic and honorable. I leave you
with some words from a different time. Words that warned a generation of the trials ahead of them.
Let’s meet those trials together and talk about them on the other side of history.  

There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given.
Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.

-Franklin D. Roosevelt