Ninja Vandal: The Hidden History of Just a Couple of Days
The graffiti that inspired the title of Just a Couple of Days first appeared on both sides of an overpass just outside of Athens, Ohio on U.S. Route 33. It remained there untouched for almost two years, and meant something different every time someone saw it. As far as anyone can tell, Just a Couple of Days means whatever you want it to mean. It is a reflection of your current consciousness, and its message depends entirely on your mood, your state of mind, and your recent thoughts.
But of course, there is more to the phrase than this. Just a Couple of Days refers to nothing, it is true, but it has nevertheless inspired at least one tale of unfathomable merriment in which the author attempts to answer that most vexing of all questions, “Just a Couple of Days till what?” Tony is forever indebted to the anonymous ninja vandal who inspired the title of his story.
Thanks to Modest Muse and friends for taking the time to carve Just a Couple of Days in stone.
The following is reprinted from The Post, Ohio University's student newspaper.
“I am sure you have all seen it. Who has not, at some point in the past year, driven north or south on U.S. Route 33 near the State Street exit? I know I have passed it numerous times. If you don't know what I am referring to, then you have never driven under the bridge and read its powerful words. A year ago someone in their ominous wisdom wrote, not on just one side but on both sides, the words: Just a Couple of Days.
Were wiser words ever spoken by the prophets? The Greeks? College professors? Our parents? I think not.
The first question that came to mind after reading these words was: who put it there? Many of my more unfortunate passengers and myself have pondered this question over time. We came up with a few answers:
1. A simple graffiti-loving teen in the area
2. A soon-to-be-graduate that got a little too excited about possibly graduating in under five years
3. (My personal favorite) An art major trying to complete an important project in which students were to say something deep and interpretative to Athens in five words or less
4. A professor run amiss
Vote for your favorite in your head.
Finally I decided that maybe who wrote it wasn't as important as what it meant, so I came to accept it as a sign from God himself (or herself, whatever you believe).
At different points in the past year, as I passed under the inscription, I found it to have several meanings. It never failed to spark interest or deep thoughts within me - well, as deep as thoughts possible when I either had a four-hour drive ahead or behind me.
Anyway, I wish I could say the same for the words written on College Gate. I can't even remember the gist of what our forefathers had to say - something about “Ghoest”ing somewhere. But the words on Route 33 weren't as easy to forget. For one thing, there are only five, and they don't end in “ist.” And for another, they meant something to me the first time I read them.
Many times they meant just a couple of days until the weekend! More often than not, they meant just a couple of days until the weekend is over, and we have to go back to classes. Sometimes it was just a couple of days until the big game, and I don't mean football. Most recently, it meant just a couple of days until that big paper has to be turned in ... or else!
There are numerous theories about what is going to happen in just a couple of days. For me, it was always something different. It always depended on where I was going and what was happening in my life at the time.
Now, the simple black-and-white words of Just a Couple of Days are gone. Someone has painted over it. No longer do I have those prophetic words to look forward to in my journey home or through life.
So now that they are gone, I think more deeply upon what they had to say. Maybe it meant we only have just a couple of days to do whatever it is we have to do because we are graduating, leaving, moving, marrying, working, dying, or entering the real world.
I don't know what the original intention was behind those words. I think their meaning is different for everybody. But there is one thing I know for sure--those five words will come with me when I drive under that spot for the last time next week.”
Article by Sarah Huey.
Further speculations on the meaning of Just a Couple of Days are listed below.
“I am the one who wrote the phrase on the overpass in Athens. It only meant one thing when I wrote it: That I would return in just a couple of days to free the human race from its earthly burdens forever. But I lied. ” --Anonymous
“I drove under that graffiti every day... Every day it was just a couple of days...just a couple of days...just a couple of days... I thought that after a couple of days the graffiti may change or go away, or maybe they knew something I didnt. Was the world going to end? But a couple of days went by and just a couple of days...just a couple of days...just a couple of days... In the end, it meant hope to me. And motivation. If i ever wanted to get past the just a couple of days, i better motivate my ass and just get past it myself.” --B. Blue
“The phrase just a couple of days means one thing to me: hope. Perhaps there are just a couple of days left before this feeling of dread passes. Perhaps there are just a couple of days left of feeling anguished, confused, and bitter beyond belief. Or perhaps there are just a couple of days left before something incredible occurs in my life, reminding me that maybe, just maybe, there is reason to live on, despite the fact that my best days, my childhood, are long gone.” --T. Acklin
“In the entire spectrum of life, we only have a short time to make whatever type of impact we want in this world. Nobody knows what might happen a couple of days from now. We all have looked back on our lives, regardless of how long or short they have been; yet it seems to all of us to have passed by so quickly. Quickly like it had been just a couple of days.” --M. Leddy
“'Just a couple of days is a reminder, a reminder to always live for the present, to make my dreams come true now, to enjoy the time I have now, and to try not to fret over the petty things and bullshit that one tends to stress over when having to deal with daily problems and frustrations... Unfortunately, we don't all realize this, and instead live our lives as slaves... missing out on the joy and wonder we should be experiencing every moment we're alive.” --Anonymous
“The meaning that I have bestowed upon this phrase has to do with hope and making the most of every moment... The end is inevitable, but the days are milk and honey. They are the gentle, loving touches, swift kicks in the ass, calls from a friend, wrinkles around your eyes, disagreements that end in hugs, tears, smiles, and much more. The just a couple of days are life and they offer hope. This hope is that in just a couple of days good things are to come and we will experience the true person with the social veil lifted. I am able to see that the spirit of humankind is truly one and the same. We all live for one reason... to love.” --E. Peter
“I believe this phrase is what you make of the present. There are just a couple of days where you make the most out of it. We are all born and we all die, but the middle is up to us. That is why I think just a couple of days is such a true statement. It is now! We live these couple of days with the rest of the world. People in society live, and then they die, but there are just a couple of days in between that will unite a society.” --M. Bruner
“Prior to the completion of this novel, the title meant little to me other than that which is clearly stated. Now, it utters a new life-altering incantation. At this moment, those words reassure me that it is only a matter of time before a noticeable change takes place in my life; a change that did not hesitate to occur within me immediately after the completion of the book.” --K. Oblisk
“I believe that the phrase means just live every day to the fullest because you don't know what could happen from tomorrow to the next day. You don't have to live in fear of death day to day, just know that you only have a certain amount of time here. Make each day constructive, do something, be happy, love someone, because in just a couple of days anything is possible.” --D. Faust
“'Just a couple of days means to me that one should not think of their life as an individual piece with a beginning and an end. Instead, imagine your life as a short push of momentum which temporarily breezes in and out of human society, for just a couple of days, doing its part to propel it to new directions and places.” --J. P. Grady
“It is my belief that the phrase is a message of hope. Just a couple of days tells me that the future is only days away. It represents a future capable of making life good, a rebirth, possibly even a chance of redemption.” --S. Rossi
“To me, the phrase just a couple of days means that your life is just that, just a couple of days. So much happened before you were alive and so much will happen after you have passed away. Your whole life in the middle is really just a couple of days to the whole universe. So, instead of thinking you have all this time to just sit around and accomplish nothing, go out and live your life. There is no reason not to take chances, to not take risks... You have one life to live and that life is yours and you can do whatever you want with it.” --C. Goodwin
“To me, this phrase means the dash in between the years on a person's tombstone. The year of their birth and the year of their death are separated by a small dash and that represents just a few days which was their life. Just a couple of days describes it so well because life flies by so fast that when it has ended that is all life really is, just a couple of days.” --S. Fuscardo
“I see the phrase as motivation. I would like to think of this phrase everyday throughout my life. When I say to myself, 'There are just a couple of days left,' I will want to live my life with that in mind. That phrase will help me do things that I am meant to do, either to benefit me alone or to help others...” --S. Crecelius
“The syntactical meaning is an adjective phrase joined with a prepositional phrase. The semantical meaning is simple two days...But the deeper, underlying meaning to me is one of hope. Just a couple of days more... to what end I do not know, but if it's only a couple of days away, I can wait. The hope that in a couple of days things may be different, I may be different and I look forward to the days to come.” --A. Grantstein
“Just a couple of days. That's all we are in the grand scheme of things. Just a couple of days. That's all our weeks, years, centuries, and millenia amount to. Just a couple of days. That's the amount of time we have to do good and make right. Just a couple of days. That's when we'll be free. That's when we'll understand wy we're here.” --J. A. Stark
“No matter how long you live or how long you go through problems..., make just a couple of days like they are the last days of your life. Live life like there is no tomorrow. I have lost a lot of my life through feeling sorry for myself and maybe even finding out who I really am, but through friends and family I am beginning to get the answer...I am living life like I want to, and living it like I have just a couple of days left.” --G. Locastro
“Just a couple of days till what? What are we waiting for, tomorrow? What makes tomorrow so different from today?...To me this saying is very inspirational. Live your life to the fullest while you have it. If you sit on your ass waiting for something to happen you're wasting your time. You have to make things happen, go out and see the world, not when you retire, right now go enjoy your friends and family... What is the secret to life? There is none, just enjoy your time and gain as much knowledge as you can while you are here. Love someone, and make sure they know.” --Anonymous
“To me it symbolizes the way that Americans, myself included, are always looking ahead to the future. We go to college to prepare for our careers in the future. We work to save money to buy homes in the future. We have children and plan for their futures. What we have currently we never stop to enjoy, what we have now is an obstacle on the way to someday. We are never content with what we have, and once we have what we have been striving for, we still look ahead to something 'better' until we are old, and we look back over our lives and realize we never enjoyed what we had while we had it. It is said that youth is wasted on the young, but it can also be argued that life is wasted on the living. It is not until you are dying, or have survived a near-death experience, that you learn to appreciate the here and now. Our culture does not value stopping to smell the roses; it values being on the go, working long hours, and buying things.” --L. Turner
“Just a couple of days can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but it has just one meaning to me. I perceive the phrase stands for living day by day. In just one day, someone's life can be totally changed. It may take just a couple of days for something extraordinary or devastating to come your way. Because of this, I feel it is important to live every day to the fullest. Don't hold back... You can't live in fear of anything... Don't be afraid of death. If you have honestly lived every day to its fullest, you should not fret upon death. Life is a very amazing thing and it should be enjoyed. This phrase should be printed everywhere to remind people of what life is really about.” --A. McCurdy
“On Mars, just a couple of days is still just a couple of days... When you are not orbiting a large mass, just a couple of days means nothing at all. We have worked ourselves into a mode of thinking... that sets up rigid rules about what we can do at what times. We have breakfast when the sun rises, lunch when the sun is directly overhead, and dinner when it is coming down. We take showers at night or in the morning. We put on a new set of clothing in the morning. We sleep when it is dark and play when it is light. These are just some of the many things that limit our ability to think 'outside the box.' We get used to accepting things as they are, never thinking that they could be or should be different... So what does just a couple of days mean to me? Right now, on Earth, I am thinking that I have been wearing the same clothing for just a couple of days. I will probably wear them for just a couple more days.” --E. Sperling
“I'm glad to see that a simple phrase has caused some deep thinking and its original intent may have been for just that. While on the other hand, many people that have lived in Athens and/or attended Ohio University may understand a different meaning. Trips to Athens to visit old friends (both by returning former Athenians and by visitors) invariably last longer than first expected. So as you are driving into Athens and read Just a Couple of Days you may think 'I'm getting away from the world for just a couple of days of fun and relaxation in Athens, then back to life'. Upon departure, most likely a day or seven longer than you thought you'd be there, you may laugh and think 'ha, just a couple of days, ya right'. The point is that Athens is a magical place where you don't have to worry about what will happen in just a couple of days, so much so that visitors end up staying longer to relish that feeling, sometimes voluntarily, sometimes for reasons without explanation.” --B. Brown
“It could be a reference to an obscure single by Mikael Ramel of the Swedish rock band Steampacket (sometimes called Steampacket II, in order not to be confused with the British supergroup where Rod Stewart got his start...). He wrote a song called Just a Couple of Days in 1966.” (Read more.) --Anonymous
“According to the bible, God created the universe in just a couple of days. This just goes to show you what can be accomplished in a relatively small amount of time. If one dude can create all of creation in a couple of days, then surely whatever menial tasks I'm obligated to complete under a deadline are well within my reach. And in those couple of days, with my daunting task completed, i can finally rest.” --K. Butler
“When I was in junior high school, and early on in high school, my older friends in high school would come down to OU for college visits, or to see the marching band, and I found from them that there was an overpass on State Route 33 before you arrived in Athens...They told me that on this overpass were the words just a couple of days painted on both sides of the elevated road. They informed me that this meant for the parents coming in to visit their children...to 'only stay for just a couple of days'...For the students leaving, however, it seemed to say, 'don't worry, you will only be gone just a couple of days.' This made me feel that something mysterious, private, and exciting was going in in Athens, Ohio.” --Anonymous
“This conveys the uncertainty of our notion of Time itself...It stirs up a lot different emotions inside as well, including anticipation (just a couple of days until what?) and even joy (just a couple of days? Wow, it’s almost here then!) The ambiguity of the title makes you feel as if something will happen soon, yet not TOO soon. Only time will tell, and you are left at the mercy of father time himself. How do I relate this to my life? Tom Petty says, 'The waiting is the hardest part,' and I certainly agree with this. If there is an event in time, then the point where you can say 'Just a couple of days left,' is THAT part, the hardest part. If death is that event in time, which really can happen at any time, then ANY time you can say Just a couple of days. Thus, that time between life and death (your lifetime) is the 'hardest part.' In order to enjoy that time between life and death, one must expel this notion of death from their library of arbitrary symbols and replace it with eternity. With eternal life, just a couple of days becomes irrelevant and one can truly love and live their lives... One thing is certain, we all die. However, there is one alternative, and that is to live like there is no tomorrow.” --S. Thurman
