We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Rod saying
something like:

After discussing it with partner, I wondered if they could have
installed some sort of anti-noise device to reduce the sound levels in
the store?

Any suggestions? Any explanations?

You should have removed your noise-cancelling headphones before paying.

Actually, it's possible there was some form of noise cancelling going on
in the store, perhaps just to see if customers complained about it.
--

Dave