DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

The Miami Herald reports that a team-building exercise went awry at a gathering of Burger King marketing staff: of the 100+ people who walked over hot coals, a dozen needed medical attention, and one spent the night in the hospital.

Event organizer “Cork” Kallen, keenly aware of his liability, offered this ridiculous opinion: “When you see over 100 people and only 10 to 15 people have blisters, I don’t term that unusual.” I find it not at all curious that Mr. Kallen’s promotional website doesn’t mention that he expects a 10% injury rate.

According to his motivational-speaker resume, Mr. Kallen used to be a personal injury attorney, meaning he made his living suing the sort of people who run events where participants get horribly injured. Anyone who doesn’t find that deliciously ironic, please line up here behind the red-hot coals.

Here are the original stories: Burger King firewalking a burning issue (Miami Herald — local mirror); Workers Bond, Then Are Treated (New York Times — local mirror)

(By the way, what the heck happened to the too-clever headline writers when this story came up? Dumb puns are the lifeblood of copyeditors — they even give awards for stupid headlines. Am I supposed to believe that after reading about Burger King employees at a firewalk, no one in Miami or New York was able to come up with a good grilling joke?)

[Thanks to Bim for forwarding this story!]