When I first returned to the U.K. after many years away, I hated it with as much passion as when I first left.

So, I used to make little pilgrimages to the local motorway services … to the ‘restaurant’ for a coffee.

Motorway services are the same the World over and when you’re in one of the 'restaurants', if it weren’t for the language spoken around you placing you in a specific region, you could be anywhere on the planet.

All you need to do is wear headphones to filter out the sounds around you … close your eyes … and you could be anywhere … anywhen — you could step out of the doors into the outside world and find yourself somewhere else … be someone else … leading a different life … not you, not here, not now, not ever again.

Headphones ...

The Sony Walkman (and every such device since) was invented for those of us who are fed up with the human race and wish it would just leave us alone.