Like the city itself, they have kept the slow-paced habits
of a former age. No city is more easy to be lost in, and Brooklyn is at
all times full of people from across the river, who ask the way to
Borough Hall. For that matter, one may easily be lost on Staten Island,
where the inhabitants are reputed to pass the pleasant summer evenings
in guiding strangers to the trolley lines. But a person naturally
expects to lose his bearings on Staten Island. On the other hand, to be
lost in Brooklyn irritates as well as confuses. It is like starving in
the midst of plenty. One always has the choice of half a dozen surface
cars, but one is always sure to be directed to the wrong one.
So I repeat: Brooklyn's tangled streets serve their highest purpose in
safeguarding its inhabitants against the unwelcome visitor. Because of
our American good nature we are always inviting people to call; and when
they accept we immediately feel sorry. It is a law with us that if two
utterly unsympathetic persons meet by chance at the house of a common
friend, they shall insist on having each other to dinner on the
following two Sundays.
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