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Sarah [1], I've got a story amazingly similar to yours, except it happened in the winter. I get on an overheated uptown A at 42nd St. after work. Miraculously (ha), there's a seat on the other side of the car. I squeeze into it & then realize the heat is blasting from under it, but I've got a seat, & I don't want to stand all the way through the express run up to 125th. At 59th St., the doors close & *then* the announcement is made that the train will be going local! They couldn't tell us first & give us a chance to get off? Much grumbling & kvetching from riders in a hurry to get home. The train lurches along, not just local but s-l-o-w, as the backs of my legs get really uncomfortably hot. Again I'm tempted to get off, & again I stay because I have a seat. And then the train stops in between 2 local stations & just sits there. The lights go off, or at least dim, but the heat does not let up. As we sit sweating in our winter coats, a toddler starts crying, "I want my mommy! Want mommy daddy!" I know how ya feel, kid.

At least there was no one yelling in our faces or singing off-key!

why are all these stories so fantastical

Classic subway moment:
The height of summer, the platform must be at least 100 degrees. I get onto the subway car to cross into Brooklyn, relieved to have a seat. As the train crosses into Brooklyn, it comes to a sudden stop. The lights go off, the airconditioning stops. We sit and sweat. A baby starts crying at the end, and an agressive homeless woman walks into our car and starts screaming and getting in people's faces. A man down at the end starts to sing in Spanish loudy and off key. We sit. We sweat. They guy across from me looks up and says "Now I know what hell feels like."