Anyone else notice this, or is it just a fluke of the few I've been in?

The one I went to wasn't stuffy. I can't remember where it was now: the only place I've had to fend for myself recently in the US was New Orleans, and I don't suppose a Subway would stay in business too long anywhere within 100 yards of a good po'boy place (i.e. anywhere in NO).

And jeez, Peter, don't they have delicatessens in Cambridge?

Um, I'm not sure what you mean by this. If it's "What are you doing eating at Subway if there are real delicatessens in Cambridge instead?", then see above (I don't think you get Subways in the UK; no-one calls those rolls "subs" for a start, so the pun is a bit wasted). If it's "If you think ordering in Subway is unnecessarily difficult, try a delicatessen", then I've never had that problem with Cambridge delis.

The best sub-like filled rolls I know of come from Chatwin's bakery in Nantwich (and branches in about a dozen nearby towns) in Cheshire.

Peter