I've already confessed to my demographic denial and subsequent MTV viewing habits, so it's probably no surprise that during our early March snowstorm, I got sucked into a shame spiral of MTV's "True Life" series . One of the episodes was “True Life: I'm in Debt.” It profiled three young women—all twenty-somethings—with masses of debt, limited or no incomes, and relatively cavalier attitudes about their predicaments.

Now, I know enough to take my MTV programming with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, the “I'm in Debt” episode triggered all sorts of emotions for me: fascination, disbelief, pity, and even some nausea. The fact that one of the debtors, Ashley, entered her bankruptcy  attorney's office with a $4 venti cup of Starbucks made my skin crawl. But more than anything, I was frustrated—frustrated that these three young women had let their financial lives get so out of control.

I sought therapy in the form of other bloggers, like Young and Broke  and the Frugal Law Student , who'd had reactions similar to mine. But here's my question: does a program like this serve as a wake-up call to others in similar situations, or does it simply condone irresponsible behavior? If I'm being too judgmental, let me know.