Spotted in Paris this weekend while traveling with my children by métro: a billboard with a public-service announcement by the Paris transit authority. The sign asks travelers to spread out along the platform, to better disperse riders within the train and to shorten the time trains spend in stations. The main line reads: The train has several doors. Don’t hesitate to use them all.trainratp

I noticed that someone had annotated the poster with a ballpoint pen. The annotation read: What if they first stopped treating us like livestock? It struck me and stuck with me because it suited the photograph well. Where the transit authority saw a train, the commentator saw a crowded train.