Keeping Cool vs. the Emotional Wreck

I consider myself to be fairly intelligent. I'm street smart and can work well with others. I can negotiate deals and plan events.
But sometimes, I'm downright ditzy.
Today I took the wrong train. This is unfortunately not the first time I've done that. It's a slight inconvenience that costs me a lot of time. But it's fixable. There's a solution, a train that takes me back to my point of origin.
Today I decided to leave a few minutes early, hoping to shop for Shabbos. I apparently read the Penn Station board incorrectly (after 5 years commuting from NJ) and took a train that skipped the Secaucus transfer station. After arriving in Newark, I ran for the train back to Secaucus. Except the train skips Secaucus and goes straight to Hoboken. I needed that train, but let it pass because I was confused. Our track system is complex to say the least.
I finally found a staff member who told me to go to Hoboken where I could catch the train I needed home. OF COURSE!
My main question is, why can't I keep cool when I'm lost? As soon as I began talking to the man who WAS HELPING ME, tears began to flow. Slowly, but I couldn't control them.
I tried to keep my cool, but I lost it. There have been other, worse, more stressful train hazards and all of them make me an emotional train wreck (<-- intentional pun).
What happened to my put together, street smart negotiator? Where does she go when I board that train?!?