It seems that Cherry must have some inkling as to the identity of the Kudzu Crusader (KC) in spite of her actions, as she keeps using what seems to be gender fluid terminology to refer to an otherwise unknown person. A few days ago, she spoke of KC’s actions, claiming “…and they framed me!” Today, talking about KC, Cherry wants to “find them so they’ll stop terrorizing everyone.” Perhaps Cherry just never bothered going to grammar class in school. Or maybe Jules Rivera is editorializing.
As for Squirrely Sandy, things are off to a rough start. I’m guessing that whoever started the rumor is almost certainly the Kudzu Crusader. If not Honest Ernest (who is still the most likely suspect), who else could it be? It wouldn’t be Ernest’s wife, who became Cherry’s friend after the last time those two met up. There haven’t been any other antagonists in Cherry’s World that I know of. So are we going to have yet another new character in this story?
The Daily Trail 
They is, and always has been, a common term for people of unknown sex and number.
https://www.englishgratis.com/1/wikibooks/english/singularthey.htm#:~:text=In%20the%20example%20from%20Hamlet,gender%20cannot%20be%20in%20doubt.
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Thanks! That’s all true. Of course, I’m familiar with the usage, as we all employ it. I’ve always been disappointed that we do not have a better vocabulary for pronouns. That kind of usage just always looks forced, especially when the unknown agent is already defined as an individual, rather than a group.
In general, I’d prefer recasting the sentence in a different way, such as “I want to stop this person from terrorizing everyone”, even though it is a bit more formal sounding and probably doesn’t fit Cherry’s personality. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of thinking those pronouns might be employed in a more contemporary (socio-political) manner. So, my bias got in the way of clear thinking, and I took a wrong grammatical turn. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, Downpuppy!
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We all have our little grammar hangups. Mine are a mix of prescriptive, proposed, & descriptive:
“Between you & I” hurts my ears. Me & I should match the stand alone form.
“Whom” is just a trap & should not be a word. Who always works without confusion.
Singular they, I’m fine with.
How did “perfect” replace OK? (It’s a good, encouraging, word, I’m just wondering how it took over so fast.)
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