As someone who has the great fortune of living in the Tampa Bay area of Florida I have ready access to what Ronan from VNV Nation refers to as one of the best goth clubs in the country – The Castle.  While I haven’t been in a while, I truly find that one of the greater pleasures in life is to head out there for a late night of dancing, drinking, and socializing with some of the finest people on the planet.

When 2:00 AM rolls around and they kick on the lights, though, I’m seldom in a mood to head home and call it a night.  Several hours of high energy booty shaking mixed with what is often an unwise combination of concoctions puts me in a mood for salty, greasy, goodness.  What better place to quench that desire than a 24 hour Denny’s?

At any other time when I think of going out to eat I really don’t think of Denny’s – especially if I’m trying to be “good” and eat something that is relatively healthy.  Denny’s is not a name that is synonymous with proper nutrition.  Denny’s, to people like me, is not a place you go if you’re after “Good Eats.”  It’s the place you go to because it’s open.

So can someone explain to me why, exactly, the Center for Science in the Public Interest is suing Denny’s for having too much sodium in their food?

I am of two different mindsets on this issue to be honest.  For one, I understand there is some kind of legislation possibly brewing up in Washington that would require restaurants to put nutrition information for all of their food on the menu.  I’m 100% behind that kind of legislation.  As someone who is committed to being a lifelong member of Weight Watchers I have the ability to eat whatever I want to, so having that kind of information available would allow me to freely choose from a menu and work what I eat into my diet.  That being said at the current time such legislation does not exist.  If someone who was suffering from hypertension wanted to avoid having too much sodium in their food they could just, you know, not eat some place like Denny’s.

The plaintiff in the case, Nick DeBenedetto, specifically complained about his “favorite” sandwich from the Denny’s menu – Moons Over My Hammy.   I’m going to stop right there.  Folks, if you were suffering from hypertension do you REALLY think that a dish called Moons Over My Hammy would sound like a wise food choice to make?  I mean, one of the primary ingredients there sounds like it might be, I don’t know, ham?  A food that is not really well known for being low sodium.

As much as I want the Government to take a more active role in promoting healthy lifestyle choices this kind of thing is just silly.  People like Mr. DeBenedetto should take some level of responsibility when it comes to their dietary needs.  There’s no excuse not to be informed these days, especially when you consider the fact that Denny’s has all their nutrition information available online.  While Mr. DeBenedetto may consider that inadequate, I consider it invaluable.

Then again, I’m also the kind of consumer who actually expects my coffee to be hot.  Perhaps I’m in the minority.