Tom Perrotta's Bad Haircut is a collection of short stories about Buddy, a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1970s. In these stories, Perrotta often introduces characters who put on false facades that don't resemble their true selves. Later in the book, these pretenses are removed and the people's true personalities are revealed. Buddy's first impressions of Jane, the Weiner Man, and Sharon are very different from their real characters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Although Jane Pasco appears to be a normal, well-adjusted teenager, her home life reveals that she is very overworked and stressed. At the beginning of a story, Buddy sees Jane as a normal girl with an average life. Buddy remarks, “The Pascos? Is this the average American family? (Perrotta 174). Buddy considers Jane's family to be the epitome of ordinary. They have literally achieved the title of most average family and everything looks splendid. However, as the story progresses, Buddy discovers that Jane's life is anything but ordinary. After Jane's boyfriend Mike broke up with Jane, he realized his mistake and "started stalking Jane, calling her every night, leaving gifts by her locker, and generally , to make a spectacle of his misery. It turned [Jane] into a nervous wreck” (167). Jane is not really the happy, ordinary teenager that America sees. She is constantly harassed by a man, the pain of an emotional breakup and Mike's suicide attempt weigh on her conscience, causing her great anxiety. Above all his social struggles is his family life, riddled with problems. The factory where Jane's father worked “closed its doors without warning. He spent a few months looking for work, then fell into depression and settled on the living room sofa for a long time. He…sometimes threw tantrums…She would rush home from cheerleading practice to make dinner for her father, Matt, and Pam, then spend another hour cleaning up” (170). Jane has a mountain of responsibilities, more than the average teenager, which tax her physically and mentally. Jane's father is a boor whose unemployment forces Jane's mother to work arduous hours and her brother is an acid who needs constant care. As the book progresses, Buddy discovers that Jane and her seemingly mediocre family are not the normal family they appear to be. Similar to Jane, the Wiener Man appears to be a happy and beloved hero, but in reality, he is a sad and lonely hero. man. When Buddy first sees the Wiener Man, he appears to be a larger-than-life figure: "The Wiener Man towered over his opponent...The Wiener Man was bigger than the yellow umbrella at the hot dog stand" ( 5.10). These first impressions show Buddy's fear of finally seeing the great and powerful Weiner Man. However, Buddy's brief look doesn't match reality. “Up close, you could see that the Wiener Man was not as big as he first appeared... He was no longer the Wiener Man. He was a normal-looking guy” (8.15). Once Buddy looks closer, he realizes that Weiner Man is not a "superhero". He sees that Mr. Amalfi is just an average man. And the Wiener Man is not only a simple man, he is also a sad and lonely man. The Wiener Man himself exclaims: "It seemed like a fun way to live... zooming down the highway... Happy?... I don't know about that... It feels a little lonely sometimes" (18.19) . Buddy sees »..