this and that, a tit for tat

Sitting on the uptown D train, I hear the conductors voice come over the loud speaker:

"Ladies and Gentleman, the emergency brake has been pulled on the A train in front of us, we are stuck here until they move."

Loud groans fill the car, inaudible radio conversations emanate from the conductors cabin in the train, several minutes pass.

"Ladies and Gentleman, the conductor on the A train is currently walking through his train to see what tripped the emergency brake."

More inaudible radio conversations.

"The A train should be moving shortly."

I have ridden the NYC subway trains for five years. This is the first time I have been in a situation where I was behind a train that had the emergency brake pulled. One time I was heading to Brooklyn and the train I was on pulled into the station just as another train was pulling in across the platform and the emergency brake got pulled on that train because two people over there had begun to throw punches.

Another time I was on on the way to school and there was a breakdown in the signaling system and I was stuck underground for nearly an hour, and I nearly missed the final that was scheduled for that day in my Spanish class.

Lastly, I was on an uptown F train when we pulled into 14th street and the conductor opened the doors and told us all to get out because the doors were malfunctioning.

Considering all the other times I have ridden the subway have been a smooth ride, that's a pretty impeccable track record.