[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by PTTG

...
OK, here we go:

Chandler:
Current year 1998. Best guess is that a psionic shock wave from the collapse of a nearby worldline changed human culture in 1996; people barely even acknowledge the change. In this worldline, cannibalistic dominance challenges are accepted and respected. I.e., one may eat the heart of your superior to obtain his or her social status. Only a formal challenge and duel with short knives is acceptable, however; there is a range of responses to a formal, public challenge, and the duel itself may be delayed by up to a month by the superior, etc., etc.

In all other ways, the societal and geopolitical situation is identical to that of the late 1990s. Many bosses were decent enough that their underlings are quite happy working for them, and no two world leaders have dueled eachother in this way. The sitcoms, however, are surprising....

Sorry, but having loved ones work customer service the least plausible part of that reality is the, "Many bosses were decent enough that their underlings are quite happy working for them." part. That alone would result in a very different America than the one we've had for the past few decades if not longer.