One actually doesn't have to read more than this tl;dr, since the interview in the article is tedious and takes forever to get to the point

I guess a simple anecdote about math dweebs holding up the line would be less publishable without all the window-dressing.

And the joke is buried at the end!

And it isn't a very good joke.

That's the best kind.

Ok, in future please refrain from ordering sandwiches while standing in the math line.

Sadly Dave's Sandwich was not a Ham Sandwich, said the topolgist.

I wish I read this tldr earlier. I spent 7 minutes scanning this boring interview for an explanation without success.

Thank you; you beat me to posting the TLDR.

The sign is humorous, but the article is entirely too long for the subject.

I think it's a little funnier than your tl;dr: in particular, a member of the math faculty, who has a sandwich named after him and who is friends with the owner, was a little bit too preoccupied with mathematics to fully engage with the sandwich ordering process.