Can you read this well? Is this just a fad that everyone is getting on, or is there a legitimate reason for having a gray background with a slightly darker gray

Can you read this well? Is this just a fad that everyone is getting on, or is there a legitimate reason for having a gray background with a slightly darker gray text color? Short of that, cool site. It'd be nice to see how many comments are on a submission, and if clicking 'comments' didn't load a new tab.