At one of the intersections in a quiet residential district of West Haven, there was an elderly woman carrying out a difficult task: She was walking. She was walking with an aluminum walker covering three sides of the body; with both hands firmly holding onto the top bars, she progressed perhaps 10 inches or so with every step, repeating this motion extremely slowly and painstakingly. When she reached the intersection, her steps became even more intermittent: She had to watch that no cars were approaching. In her extraordinary slowness, she could not cross the intersection in time if a car approached even from the furthest end of the street.

A spontaneous response on the part of an observer who encounters a handicapped person in a less than safe situation like this is to offer help. But if help had been offered this woman, she would most likely have declined it. Her painstaking task was carried out with self-reliance, self-respect, and dignity. Her stern concentration on the task was of the kind that prohibits casual interference from outsiders. Her face wore an expression of strength and determination.

It is not uncommon to encounter frail elderly persons walking publicly with aids in the streets of West Haven. For all of America's ethnic variety, this independence and resilience is a common characteristic of the American way of growing old, which many crossnational observers also note.