an eternal mystery

whenever i head into the office (which is more and more rare these days), i take the 4 train from borough hall. it's easy and quick and gets me to within a couple blocks of red hot after a transfer to the 6.

but it also totally fucks with my head.

i swear, the train tracks under the borough hall station defy the laws of physics.

the 4 train to manhattan should travel north out of the station. but according to every piece of my internal logic, that damned train is heading south!

here's the deal.

i walk down joralemon st, heading just about due east.

i curse yet another starbucks as i walk down the subway stairs. at the bottom of the stairs, i turn left and head north towards the gates.

i turn right (east) and walk through the turnstile.

i make a left and head north. i walk to the stairs that lead to the manhattan-bound platform.

i turn right (east again) and walk down the stairs.

at the bottom of the stairs, i turn right to face the train platform. i am now facing southeast. the train comes from my left, heading southwest. right? but manhattan is to the north!

i've always been proud of my sense of direction. if i hadn't been with my family in europe at age 16, they'd probably still be lost somewhere in romania.

but seriously, i think if i don't figure this out i'm going to go crazy. hopefully not this crazy!