Leon’s Full Service, oatmeal cream pie with cherry buttercream icing.

There are worse things a person can do than eat a half-pound dessert.

You could be caught up in an international political scandal, or you could elect to come clean on a teenaged lie. These are the things I tell myself when I indulge in something that seems beyond indulgent. I mean look at that thing, it’s as big as my head.

Rachel and I sat at the bar and chatted with bartenders who never. stopped. moving. We held back on ordering the Gin Fizz, because we’ve both worked in restaurants and given the level of busyness, that would have been cruel. I kind of hate that I know things like that. Sometimes I just want to be the ignorant restaurant-goer who decides that because I want something, I’m going to have it. I don’t want to think that by ordering a particularly time-consuming and temperamental drink, my order could be the straw that breaks the bartender’s back.

It probably wouldn’t, but these are the things you think about when you’re being indulgent.

But this cookie — this cookie is something else. It’s soft and chewy and the buttercream is somehow rich and light at the same time. The icing sparked a conversation on Cool Whip — you know it’s not actually a food, right? Wired magazine did a great piece on it a while back, where they broke down all the ingredients. It’s basically plastic. Some edible form thereof. Stuff you don’t want to be eating, really. This is also something else you can say to yourself while eating a half-pound cookie with cream from Leon’s. At least you’re consuming something in a food group.