Classic Scrubs Scene Has Gone Viral For Showing The Benefits Of Social Distancing

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Everyone is really trying to do their due diligence with stopping the spread of the coronavirus. More people are working from home, we're staying out of theaters, restaurants, bars, stores and just attempting to stay at home as much as possible so that we don't get sick or make others sick. Well, a scene from the NBC medical sitcom Scrubs has now gone viral (haha) for reminding us all just how easy it is to spread our germs around when we don't practice social distancing.

Social distancing has become a big topic in the past few weeks, and, as you'll see, this clip from Scrubs demonstrates very clearly just why that, especially in the absence of hand-washing, is so important. Take a look, be slightly horrified for a moment (or three), and then meet me on the other side:

Oooooh, boy! That's one rough ending for a sitcom, right? I mean, there's nothing quite like knowing that a lovely senior citizen, who was actually about to be released from the hospital, is now going to have to contend with whatever madness ensues because she shook hands with a germ doofus and then unknowingly rubbed those germs all over her mouth and nose. This episode of Scrubs was basically the start of a zombie apocalypse movie, and I. Am. Here. For. It.

Alright, what you just witnessed was a portion of a 2006 episode of Scrubs called "My Cabbage." The episode explores how infections travel from person to person, as well as how those little nasties that cause infections get onto objects. As you can see, something that's so expertly done is how the episode uses the bright green to show us exactly how the germs travel so easily. I haven't watched Scrubs in a long time, but the internet tells me that the patient at the end wasn't just infected with some cold. Oh, no. That glove the idiot picked up was covered with the germs of a patient with a terminal disease, so, goodbye nice lady!

If you've been having a hard time staying home or washing your hands as much as possible during this pandemic, I really don't know how seeing that last shot won't snap you out of it. Wash your hands and keep your hands out of your face! Stay at home! But, if you leave, wash your hands again after you get home!

This is why it's just a good idea to stay away from as many people as possible right now, because we are all probably at least a little bit guilty of thinking we're doing the right, non-germy things and not quite getting it. The clip starts with a mom making her kid blow his nose into a tissue, which is correct (Even though the kid sneezed into his hand, which is a big no-no!), but then she takes the hand she held the tissue with and shook someone else's hand, so the germ spread is on. And, it happened fast, which is why you can never be too careful.

Look, no one wants to cause any more panic than there's already been, because it's bad enough knowing that we're all probably acquainted with at least one person who's currently hoarding 50 or more rolls of toilet paper. But, please let this Scrubs scene stand as a reminder of how important it really is, always but especially now, to keep your hands clean when you've been floating through public spaces. You just never know when you'll run into somebody whose immunity just can't deal with whatever it is that you've been rolling around in.

Scrubs is streaming on Hulu right now, but if you need more viewing options, be sure to stay tuned to CinemaBlend for details on the latest premieres and everything that's being delayed right now.

Adrienne Jones
Senior Content Creator

Covering The Witcher, Outlander, Virgin River, Sweet Magnolias and a slew of other streaming shows, Adrienne Jones is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend, and started in the fall of 2015. In addition to writing and editing stories on a variety of different topics, she also spends her work days trying to find new ways to write about the many romantic entanglements that fictional characters find themselves in on TV shows. She graduated from Mizzou with a degree in Photojournalism.