I learned to connect the cables the other way, with the ground at the dead battery end. To double check, I looked at the owner's manual for my two cars, and they both say to ground the dead battery end. I've jumped cars this way, and obviously you've jumped cars your way, so both ways allow current to flow. Of course, when in doubt, follow your own car manufacturer's instructions.

I recently found this outstanding webpage on car batteries. There's a lot of great information on here and from what I've read so far, it all looks authoritative. E.g. I didn't really realize that your car's alternator could burn out or blow a diode from trying to recharge a completely dead battery because it's not designed to. So, even after getting a jump start and driving around for a while, you might disable your recharging system and soon end up with a dead battery again. That possibility had never occurred to me before. Anyway, check it out.