You Can Call Me They

We brought home a gerbil wondering if it was a he or a she Named it Polly-Jim due to confusion about who it might be. Polly-Jim took out her embroidery and said, “I need more thread.” And if you don’t mind, I prefer to be called “Lucy-Fred.” This was still confusing, but we were too silly to ask. Hip! Hip! She said impatiently. I need cotton for this task. Is he a she then? We asked each other, in a weird way. Lucy-Fred got wind of this and said, “you can call me they.”