The West Wing
Object

Green Evacuation Card Protective Sleeve

A small, credit-card/pocket-sized translucent protective sleeve dyed utilitarian green, sized to encase a contingency evacuation card. Made of thin, flexible plastic or vinyl with heat-sealed edges and a clear face to display printed instructions, it is handled briefly and reverently in-scene as Jonathan Lacey slips the sleeve (and the card inside) into Josh’s hand. The sleeve both protects the card and visually signals the privileged evacuation information it contains.
5 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

5 moments
S1E5 · The Crackpots and These Women
The Big Cheese and the Green Card

A thin green evacuation card in a translucent cardholder is produced from Lacey's folder and handed to Josh; it functions as the narrative catalyst, converting ritual banter into an existential security decision about who is entitled to evacuation.

Before: Seated in a folder on Lacey's person on Leo's office table, clipped for ready presentation.
After: Given to Josh and described as to be carried on his person; implied to be tucked into his wallet for safekeeping.
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S1E5 · The Crackpots and These Women
The Green Card: Exclusion Delivered

A translucent green cardholder sleeve, containing the evacuation card, is produced by Lacey and handed to Josh; it functions as the tangible locus of institutional protection, transforming abstract protocol into a personal token that implicitly excludes others and forces Josh's moral choice.

Before: Clipped inside a folder on Lacey's table, in the private possession of the NSC officer.
After: In Josh's immediate possession (examined and mentally filed), effectively moved from institutional custody into a personal object he plans to tuck beside other private cards.
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S1E5 · The Crackpots and These Women
The Green Card — Josh's Quiet Reckoning

The translucent green evacuation cardholder sleeve encases the evacuation card and is the visible prop that signals privileged protection. Lacey slides the sleeve out and gives it to Josh; the sleeve makes the card immediately legible and symbolically charged.

Before: Secured inside the folder, clipped to documents and out of general view.
After: In Josh's possession, taken from the folder and later tucked 'next to' his video club membership.
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S1E5 · The Crackpots and These Women
Green Card, 'Ave Maria,' and the Unspoken Fire

The green evacuation card (represented by the cardholder sleeve) functions as the immediate catalyst for Josh's visit and anxiety: he reports being the only one given such a card among his friends, and Stanley uses reference to the card to pry past Josh's evasions. The card converts abstract magazine fear into a targeted threat, forcing a personal disclosure.

Before: In Josh's knowledge/possession — it had been handed to him earlier that morning (he reports having received it).
After: Remains an unexamined but potent object in Josh's possession/awareness; it is not physically inspected in the scene but continues to weigh on him mentally.
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S1E5 · The Crackpots and These Women
The Green Card and the Door

The evacuation card (encased by its utilitarian green sleeve in canonical description) is the immediate, tangible trigger Josh names: he was given a card that none of his friends received. It functions narratively as the objectification of exclusion, secrecy, and implied danger that collides with his private guilt and forces disclosure.

Before: Delivered to Josh earlier that morning; in his possession and mentally active as a source of disquiet.
After: Remains unacted upon and unresolved in the scene; still symbolically charged and prompts further decisions by Josh.
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