March 9, 1938
5:00 PM PST

Marty was amazed by how the town looked, as Emmett drive him and the two girls over to his house. The town was sort of a cross between how he had seen it in 1925 and 1955. There were definitely more houses in 1938, than there were in 1925. Still, the town had fewer houses in 1938, than it did in 1955. His grandfather, Arthur, would be 30 years old and married to Sylvia - and his father, George, would have just been born.

As far as the Tannen family goes, Jiff would be 31 - and Biff would be not quite a year old yet. He hoped that Jiff would not recognize him from 1925. Marty remembered hearing that Jiff had been arrested not long after Biff was born - and Jiff's wife, Emma, had died when Biff was only five. As a result, Biff had spent the rest of his life growing up with Tiffany Gertrude Tannen. Back in 1925, she still went by the name of Tiff - but, by 1955, she was using her middle name, Gertrude.

Marty remembered hearing about how TG Tannen was often strict, and how she would scold Biff repeatedly - apparently turning Biff into a bitter guy and a bully. The ironic thing was, TG Tannen had been trying a little too hard from prevent Biff from becoming like his father - but her oppressive stance had, instead, produced the opposite results. Marty had to feel sorry for TG Tannen, as she not only had Buford for a father - but she was also destined to carry on a lineage of bullies.

'Are you all right, Mike?' Emmett asked, concerned. 'You seem so quiet.'

'Uh, yeah, I'm fine,' replied Marty. 'I'm just looking around, and getting myself acquainted with this time, uh, town.'

'This is a great town, isn't it?' Karen asked, softly. 'It's a quiet and peaceful place to live. It's just a shame that many of the kids in our school can be pretty mean.'

'Say, uh,' stammered Marty, 'one of them wouldn't happen to be a Tannen?'

'How do you know about the Tannens?' asked Leanne, confused.

'Oh, I've heard about them,' replied Marty. 'I heard that they were notorious for being bullies. My older brother told me about how he met Jiff in 1925, and how Jiff was a major bully. He bullied Arthur McFly, among others.'

'Oh, I heard Jiff got arrested last month,' explained Karen. 'He was charged for robbery, as he kept walking out of Larry's Cafe without paying. His wife, Emma, is raising up Biff. Gee, I hope Biff doesn't become like his father.'

I'm afraid you're in for a disappointment, thought Marty.

'I heard that Ol' Lady Tannen now goes by her middle name, Gertrude,' said Leanne, shaking her head. 'She has expressed deep disappointment in her son.'

'I'd almost feel sorry for Jiff,' added Emmett, 'if he wasn't such a nasty tyrant. I can imagine how awful it must feel to know that your own mother is disappointed in you.'

'Yeah, I can imagine the feeling,' said Marty. In the old timeline, before Marty had gone back to 1955 and improved her family life, her mother would occassionally get into those moods - where she would berate Marty, and tell him what a disappointment he was. Her alcoholic mother had a tendency to go through rapid mood swings. In the new and improved timeline, though, Marty had a much better relationship with her parents. Furthermore, Biff Tannen was no longer harassing the McFlys - although he could still be pretty nasty, when he was away from his customers. He also tend a tendency to rip his customers off by trying to charge them for two coats of wax on the car - when he has only put one coat.

'My father did want me to become a physician like him,' Emmett explained. 'However, when I told him that I wanted to be a scientist, he was understanding. My parents have always been very supportive of me - which is one thing that I'm very grateful for. It's a shame that some of our peers can be very superficial and shallow.'

'So, are Karen and Leanne the only friends you have?' asked Marty, feeling a bit sad for his friend.

'Well, I wouldn't say that they're my only friends,' Emmett said, slowly. 'I am dating a girl named Nancy right now. There are other kids in school that I'm friendly acquaintences with. Sometimes, it does seem like the whole school is against me - whem in reality, it's really only a loud minority of kids who actively make fun of me. I guess I tend to be real shy, because I worry that other people might not like me. I guess, in the end, I'm not really one to like large crowds. I'd rather have just a few friends who like me for who I am - than to have many friends who are only my friends on a superficial level.'

'Yeah,' said Karen, nodding, 'I sometimes think the popular kids tend to feel even more lonely than we do, when you really think about it. Can you imagine how hard it must feel, to always feel the need to impress your friends? The fact that you can never just be yourself around your friends, or be able to turn to them when the going gets rough? I'm sure it must be a very painful experience. When you think about it, being popular really is not all that it's cracked up to be.'

'Wow!' Marty gasped. 'I must say, Karen, you really are such a deep thinker. This is probably something that many of us don't ever really think about. Yeah, I guess I'm somewhat popular at my school. It's because I try to be nice and friendly to everyone. I really don't have much use for snobs or bullies - or politicians.'

Everyone cracked up laughing at Marty's last statement.

'I sometimes feel sorry for the politicians,' Karen said, smiling, 'because bashing politicians does seem to be the hip thing to do. The truth is, though, very few politicians really care about humanity had large - and most politicians can be very deceptive. At any rate, I'm not really one to like discussing politics.'

'Yeah, me either,' Marty said, nodding. 'I tend to shy away from the discussion of politics. I mean, I've even heard of people breaking up friendships - because of political disagreements. I think it's sad, really. I mean, isn't it better to just agree to disagree? I really don't think having a difference of opinion in anything is really worth breaking up a friendship over.'

'Right, I completely agree with you,' said Leanne. 'Some people can be very stubborn and opinionated, though. I think it's much better to embrace diversity, then to try to shame people for being different.'

'Right,' agreed Marty. 'In an ideal world, we would all take a 'live and let live' approach to life - and not judge other people for being different. The problem is, we have too many busybodies in this world.'

'Yeah, you can sau that again,' said Karen, shaking her head.

'Well, folks,' said Emmett, as he parked the car into the driveway. 'We are home, now!'

Marty stepped out, and he followed Emmett into the mansion. It was the same mansion that Emmett lived in in 1955. It would be nice to be able to see inside that building again. The building probably looked different from inside in this time, as Emmett's parents still lived in the building.