A musician’s case protects more than the price of the instrument inside it.

Inside the case is the thing you practise on, the sound you have got used to, the particular resistance your hands have learned. Replacing it with an identical model would not restore any of that, because the relationship took years and the object took an afternoon to buy. What is being carried carefully is a working partnership, and only part of it appears on a receipt.

Think of the tool you rely on most and treat it accordingly, whether that is a knife, a bicycle or a laptop. And when someone is careful with a battered old thing, assume there is a reason rather than mere sentiment.