We got our new bank cards in the mail yesterday. This is always a thrill. Not only is it a new design but its with a new bank and its Visa instead of Mastercard. We were like kids at Christmas. Sure, since we haven't switched everything over yet it only gives us access to $35 but its still a thrill!

Even better is that our new bank earned brownie points by including a little paper sleeve with the card. I'm deeply in love with these little paper sleeves which is the subject of much ridicule from my loving wife. She doesn't understand what we have together.

 
About ten years ago when I opened my account at our current bank I got one of these sleeves. For some unknown reason I kept my card in it even though my card resided in my wallet. It didn't take long before I notice my card wasn't wearing badly. It was still shiny and unscratched except for the long, uniform scratches from ATM slots.

I went through a few ATM cards that were broken, expired, or changed over to debit cards and although some split or cracked from the pressure of one of my ass cheeks for 14 hours a day, none were defaced. Oddly, with every new card I received, I was denied a new paper sleeve! I was forced to recycle the same sleeve over and over until, after nearly ten years, time had broken it down to a flimsy, thin, shell of its former self. It no longer offered its protection and its thin walls made it difficult to extract the card. At Jaime's urging, it was retired.

For the last year or so, my card has remained in my wallet, naked and alone until today. Now a new card sits proudly and safely in its paper sleeve protected from the horrors of my wallet. I expect we will spend many happy years together until it too has provided service beyond its capacity and must be replaced.