How personal are the stories?

I don’t know the exact number of people an average person will interact in their lifetime, but it has to be over a million. From something as unsubstantial as passing them on the street to marrying someone, it is a matter of degree. Few are significant and fewer still leave us with stories.
It is accurate to say that the journey through life leaves us with many interesting experiences, observations, and tales to share with others. People are individuals, endearing and maddening in turn for their quirks. And for a storyteller, what a rich feast that is!
While the manner of speaking and the way of words comes thru in the episodes and other writings (commentaries to a certain extent, since the emphasis is on speaking clearly and evenly), I am very careful to keep the personal completely out. I rather put pieces and bits about the fellow travelers and I do, all the time. If you know me and you see yourself, sorry, no credit given or blame taken
Take Nightmares (recently revised, coming soon!), and the final, kitchen scene. Buffy fills two cereal bowls with chocolate one thing or other. Does not matter, point is the manner of execution. One is completely full and the other halfway. Both are then filled to the brim with milk. Okay, you are asking: huh?
Imagine living with someone who every single time spills the cereal on the table because they keep overfilling the bowl in the first place. Every. Single. Day. Come on, admit it; it would bug you a little.
Notice how the action fits with Buffy’s character. She wants it all and she wants it now; there is no waiting or skimping and you live your life like this is your last breakfast. For a Slayer, it could well be.
The other bowl’s purpose is not to eat the cereal but to dissolve the chocolate and drink the resulting milk mixture. That is Willow’s and again, I do believe it reflects her and her worldview.
What about the people, who shall remain unnamed, who eat the cereal/food in this manner or other equally quirky? That, my friends, is entirely up to you. I got over it and actually enjoyed it; I think it’s endearing. Your mileage, of course, will vary. And if it doesn’t work out for you, cheer up – it makes for a good story. Discuss in FORUMS.