By traveling to other timelines using astral time travel with the HDR I have seen the following. Most timelines have less technology than we do. For example, they still have vacuum tubes and old looking cars. TV is still in black and white, drive-ins still exist. Some stores that have closed down here, like Woolworth, are still around.
Women still wear dresses in 2000, and men still wear hats. The 60's revolution never happened so people are more "square" but there are a few big differences. Instead of Radio Shack,there is a store called Bargain Bobs that sells electronics. Instead of Pizza Hut, there is Pizza Place, but the biggest difference is the cars. On most lines gasoline is very expensive, I'm not talking about $5/gallon like in Europe, but more like $20/gal in our money, so cars are very small like a Mini Cooper and old looking, like a PT Cruiser.
Also, teenagers are allowed to have a limited drivers license at age 13. This allows them to drive a SLOMO, a small underpowered car with a tiny "lawnmower" engine that has a top speed of 40 mph. The word slomo means SLOW MOTION, an apt term for these midget cars. This saves dad from driving "junior" to school as on most lines there are no school buses and regular buses are full of ruffians.
Although it is cool for a 13 year old to pick up his girl in a SLOMO, it is the height of uncool to have a SLOMO when you are 19. Only the biggest nerd drives a SLOMO past 21. Also, on most lines there are male and female SLOMOs, the cars for boys have racing stripes and flames on the sides, the ones for girls are pink and have flowers.
If you want to become the laughingstock of the whole school, then drive your sister's SLOMO to school.
On most timelines it is legal to work when you turn twelve, all you havet do is get a work permit. Most teens do NOT go to school but have regular jobs. It is common for people to get married when they are 15 and 16, but when most teens hit 19 they are desperate to get married, this is called the GOLD RUSH.
Most teens that are 18 start hitting clubs since the drinking age is 18 and most clubs are full of club hopping teens looking to get hitched. You do not see people in the 20's and 30's inside clubs, they are called "pyramids". Don't go to the Gold Dust, they have more "pyramids" than Egypt.
A lot of clubs have the word GOLD in them like the Gold Rush, the Gold Bug, The Golden Nugget, even Gold-diggers!
Typically guys 19 marry anybody, because if you are 21 and not married you are considered a loser, like the bum on the corner. A few guys are too ugly to find girls so they are drafted, forced to join the army, where they are sent overseas to fight wars and die.
On most timelines women are computer programmers, and it pays less than here, because the jobs for men are heavy dirty work like construction. Computers on most lines are very expensive and nobody has one in their house to play games. Companies use computers to calculate payroll and keep track of expenses. Being a computer programmer is seen as "sissy" work because it does not involve heavy lifting.
Most men want to become truck drivers because the union is very strong, also truckers own the big rig and get cheap government gas. Most trucks are not diesel due to environmental laws, they burn methane.
People do not shop at Sears since that store went under years ago, but instead at Dave's Discount which is a cross between the Dollar Storeand Walmart. Another store that went under was McDonalds on most lines becausethey had major strikes. Unions are more powerful than here and most stuff is built in the US, if a company started "outsourcing" they would go under because the dock workers would refuse to load their cargo and there would be riots on the street. The truckers in one line shut down the US when they refused to haul cheap Mexican goods.
Most presidents have "American" sounding names like Howard Franklin,there are no French names like Pierre Pascal or German names likeHelmut Hagen. There is less racism than on our line, but people "funny" accents are made fun of.
If somebody suggested bringing goods from Communist China to the US, that person would be branded a traitor and probably shot. There have been major riots involving a company shutting down its American factory and bringing in cheap junk from Mexico. Discount Daves does not sell any foreign products like French Perfumes,Japanese Electronics, or Italian Shoes.
The government has a high taffic wall protecting American industry. As a result people have in their home: an old manual typewritter, an old rotary dial telephone, a prehistoric looking tube radio, a fireplace, and a bicycle.
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