CALL ME SNAKE

I was in Central Square the other day–Cambridge’s gritty urban district–when a street-tough guy said: “Hey babe, got the time?” He said it a couple of times and I ignored him, as I figured he was talking to someone else. I’d never been called “babe” before, so far as I can recall. I finally realized he was talking to me and gave him the time. “Next time,” I said, “call me Snake.”