subway karma

I've mentioned it in regards to flying but it applies even more to a more regular method of transportation for me.

See whenever I take a subway I have this internal tic.  See I can't get myself to walk against the direction I will eventually be going even if there is a station closer than the one I wind up going to.

For example  if I'm heading to downtown on the 6 train and find myself standing on 39th street I will inevitably walk the 6 blocks to 33rd street as opposed to 3 blocks to the Grand Central station.  I have always rationalized that there is a better chance that I catch a train if I walk in the same direction but more than anything it has to do with karma..

But if you take the average person it might not work really work out.

Assume it is 5:25pm and the average New Yorker is standing at 39th street.   The average New Yorker can walk down the 6 blocks in 6 minutes plus a minute to swipe and get down to the station so in this case they can be on the platform at 5:32pm.  Now the same New Yorker can also walk the three blocks uptown to 42nd street with a total commute time of 4 minutes getting me on the platform at 5:29pm.

Now I figure it takes the train 2  minutes to travel the same 9 blocks, so assuming there is a train at  42nd at 5:29 it gets to 33rd at 5:31 -or one minute before the average New Yorker will get down to the platform.

But all of this assumes the average New Yorker who walks 6 blocks in 6 minutes, a Righetti wo can walk that in 5 minutes and all of a suddent the math all changes.   See if I'm the person standing on 39^th street at 5:25, I can be down on the platform at 5:31 exactly in time to catch that same train but there is a second reason and it has less to do with karma and more to do with the reality of the crappy subways.  
See if the train were to get to 42nd street at 5:28 instead of 5:29 then I will have obviously missed it as I still couldn't get up to that station until 5:28:30 and assuming there are no delays it would get to 33rd street at 5:30 which also ensures he would also have missed it there also BUT if there is a delay between 42nd and 33rd there is a chance to catch it still on 33^rd street while he would have missed it on 42nd.

But even if the math isn't really in only slightly in my favor- I see it as bad-karma to walk backwards and you should always strive to be on the same side as karma.
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