The Tester on My Train

I don’t know much about the subways of other cities, but in New York the station announcements are made both by the train’s conductor, and with pre-recorded messages. It depends on how new your train is whether or not your ride will favor the pre-recorded announcements or a human being.

So I was riding the A-line home yesterday from West 4th streetand the speaker was making the normal announcements at each stop, where we were and what connections could be made. I was reading so I wasn’t paying...