Scrubs, My Old Friend's Last Hurrah

***Yes, I know I haven't posted in forever, who knew having a family and real job could be so time consuming?***


You’re probably familiar with the TV show Scrubs. Hopefully, you saw it in the first 5 seasons, and not the downhill slide it has become for the last 2, but I digress. My wife claims I am obsessed with Scrubs, but I disagree, it is far more serious than mere obsession. I can sit and watch old episodes, saying every line of every episode (and yes it is funnier that way) and be perfectly content for hours. The show, the jokes, the slapstick, it never gets old. So what is it about a mere sitcom that entertains me so?

First of all, it’s just that damn funny. The brilliance of the comedic writing is that it manages to be very complex and childishly simple at the same time. It's more than just the jokes though. The show not only became a part of my life, in a way it helped to save it.

I was introduced to Scrubs in the late spring/early summer of 2003, which was between the 2nd and 3rd seasons. I had just moved to Athens, and I was literally starting my life over. I was awaiting the start of a new job, but all my friends worked, so there was about a three week period where I did nothing but watch the first two seasons all day, taking a long break to meet my buddies for a two hour lunch. I watched those early episodes over and over, and I knew (and still know) them by heart. It was an escape of sorts, a way to get away from the shit storm that was my life at the time, and that was the beginning.

From there Scrubs became not just a television show; it became ingrained in my life. I was sharing a house with my best friend, and we had every episode stored digitally and able to be played at will. Scrubs was on constantly at our house. In fact, it was often on and just running on mute in the background. We quoted every line, both during the show and randomly throughout the day, we called out continuity errors in the show, and I even somewhat modeled my management style after that of Dr. Cox. The show was a constant during a time in my life when everything else was changing.

As time tends to do, it moved on. I moved out of Athens, got married, and started a family. I still watched Scrubs, both in syndication and the new episodes, but it wasn’t quite the same. I only saw the new episodes a couple of times each, not the ridiculous quantities of past seasons. Scrubs was changing too, it was also moving on. Season 5 was probably the pinnacle, and the slide downward was quick from there. The jokes were still funny, but storylines were running thin, and I found myself laughing out loud fewer and fewer times each episode. As I write this, I have just finished watching the final episode of the strike shortened season 7, which has been quietly billed as the “Final” episode. Not so however, as ABC will shortly be announcing that they are picking up an eighth and final season of 18 episodes. I have mixed feelings about this, as the show’s time has come, and it really needs to go, but I do want it to get a proper ending. On the other hand, something that played a significant role in my life is coming to an end. It may be just a sitcom, but any social event that manages to impact someone the way that Scrubs has me must have been something pretty unique, and something we may not see again for some time.

47 Cents Til Thursday

A couple of years ago, I found myself in the position of having all my bills paid up, a full tank of gas, and about $100 to last me until the next payday, which would be Thursday, six days away. Now this was not such a bad thing. I needed money for absolutely nothing between Friday and Thursday except to eat out on. Then I did what any of us would do in this position - I spent just about every dime of it in one night of beer filled fun. Some friends of mine came up with the idea of driving out to an Octoberfest in a town an hour or so away. At the time I was fully aware that there was no way I was going to be able to attend this function, eat dinner, drink, and still have any money left over. However, I did it anyway, and when I got home early Saturday morning, I emptied my pockets to find that I had exactly 47 cents to last me until Thursday. Why would any rational person do such a thing?

The answer is simple, albeit cliched. Money isn't everything. Why do we drag our sorry asses out of bed every morning to go to work? Is it because we love our jobs so much? No, we do it to make money, and you simply can't survive as a human being if you only work to make money to pay your bills and never spend a dime on anything that you don't need. We truly do deserve to do something totally irrational that we can't afford every so often. Mine was this beer festival. I drove out, had an overpriced dinner with some friends, and went to the event. If you've never been to one of these, you have no idea what you are missing. There were more imported beers than we had time to try, an authentic German polka band, and as a result, a lot of really drunk people dancing badly to really shitty music. There are some experiences that you just can't put a price tag on.

Enjoy while you have it people. An old college buddy of mine used to say "You'd better get it while the getting is good, cause you just never know when the getting won't be so good anymore" As I recall, he was referring to chasing ass, but I think the idea is still very relevant here. Was I really out anything by having spent the money I did in the way that I did? I think not. So I didn’t have McDonalds for lunch for the next couple of days. That's probably better in the long run anyway. I had a great time, I'd do it again, and as I recall, I made it just fine on my 9 cents a day.