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AIBU?

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Original poster

So three were caught, only one is publicly shamed, wonder if the other people were white.....

36 replies

LoveManyTrustfew · 25/09/2018 18:15

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-45637288

OP posts:
Original poster
LoveManyTrustfew · 25/09/2018 18:27

I can't be the only one.

OP posts:
MacosieAsunter · 25/09/2018 18:31

The interest is in "first"

Thousands of other service personnel will have tested positive over the years. The first will have made the news. Next time it will be the first transgender and you can ask if the others had dicks

NailsNeedDoing · 25/09/2018 18:31

More likely to be because the guy with the turban was all over the news fairly recently for being the first Sikh guardsman, so he's more recognisable than the others.

YeTalkShiteHen · 25/09/2018 18:32

I agree OP. It’s fucking rife in the Armed Forces, but this guy gets singled out? I bet the DM almost wet their collective pants when that story hit their desks.

Racecardriver · 25/09/2018 18:36

I would imagine there is interest in this particular chap because of his status as a very very minor celebrity. Chances are the other guys would be white though surely? It's a shame he's being discharged, his stache goes great with the uniform.

Dickybow321 · 25/09/2018 18:39

Between July and October last year, 220 soldiers - including army reservists - tested positive after a compulsory drug test (CDT).

and The identities of the other guardsmen have not been revealed

🤔 Wonder why

MacosieAsunter · 25/09/2018 18:41

Some one from the barracks will have sold the story re the Sikh, it wont have been released by the MOD

pigsDOfly · 25/09/2018 18:41

Well working on the idea of the 'first' being of interest I googled 'the first ever guardsman to test positive for cocaine' and this was the only story that came up.

Clearly the idea that the sun is reporting it purely because it's a first and would report any other 'first' doesn't hold true.

Dickybow321 · 25/09/2018 18:57

I think the PP meant bc he is the first turban-wearing guardsman. The article says lots of them have previously tested positive.

pigsDOfly · 25/09/2018 19:12

Yes I realise that but if they named him because he was the first turban-wearing guardsman and they're naming him because they name firsts, why did they not name the first guardsman ever who tested positive.

Yes, he has been in the news and yes, he has been first for wearing a turban, but loads of guardsman have tested positive. Can't see why he has to be named and his picture plastered all over the sun when no other guardsmen who've tested positive have had the same treatment.

Original poster
LoveManyTrustfew · 25/09/2018 23:16

Ds doing media at college, only there a week or so, and he immediately said what I was thinking.

OP posts:
daughterofanarchy · 25/09/2018 23:23

The Sikh Press Association have complained to the paper about the fact that only one guard was singled out on account of his religion. The media tend to do this sort of thing with Muslims as well.

Original poster
LoveManyTrustfew · 26/09/2018 14:51

Went into work this morning, and started to discuss this, my colleague finished my sentence and said I bet the other two were white.

OP posts:
StacksOfBoxes · 26/09/2018 14:58

One wonders what the point of the story is......

Maybe it's, "should we really have trusted this dodgy Sikh person and let him bend or rules about silly hats? He took drugs, he is bad. ... maybe they are ALL bad, these dodgy Sikh people"

Is it even legal to single people out by religion like this?

StacksOfBoxes · 26/09/2018 14:59

(I would like to make it perfectly clear that the argument I just gave is NOT the way I feel about it! ! I just worry that this is the subtext to the article )

Enigmam · 26/09/2018 15:03

I did think it was strange 😏 If you name one, then name them all!

Unhomme · 26/09/2018 16:08

Doesn't look like anybody has been named officially, only that the media has been given the name of one by an 'insider' (probs a fellow soldier), which is newsworthy because of their previous publicity.

limitedperiodonly · 26/09/2018 16:09

Calm down. It's not a racist conspiracy.

He was in the news at the Trooping of the Colour because he was the first guardsman to not wear a busby and now he's come to attention again for doing cocaine, which is a lot more common.

The BBC has picked up the Sun's story because it's interesting, which is the definition of news.

If he was a white Yorkshireman in a flat cap at the Trooping that would have made the news too because it's unusual. And if that man had subsequently been caught doing coke that would have made the news too simply because he'd become known as 'the man in the flat cap.'

The others were not identified because they are not interesting. They could be white, black, Asian, male or female but they did not stand out that day. If they did, they would be named.

I doubt he'll lose his job. If we sacked everyone for testing positive for cocaine and other substances I'd be looking at a lot of empty desks around me right now.

chillpizza · 26/09/2018 16:12

It will be because he has previously been in the papers for being the first to get to wear a turban during events. Someone will of outed him to the press a fellow drug user. If they don’t have the other names they cannot name them.

limitedperiodonly · 26/09/2018 16:20

You're not googling right Pigs. I found this one very easily.

Use of illegal drugs by soldiers who guard Her Majesty is distressingly common. Something should be done...

pigsDOfly · 26/09/2018 17:58

Ah okay didn't get that when I googled but still can't see any names of the people who were dismissed just which regiment they were in.

YeTalkShiteHen · 26/09/2018 18:12

I doubt he'll lose his job

DP left the Army 12 years ago (left, wasn’t sacked!) but before then a positive drug test was instant dismissal. It happened to his COs son!

Buster72 · 26/09/2018 18:24

Snowflakes looking for reasons to be offended.
He has been exposed by an insider purely because of his earlier fame at the trooping. Not due to his race or religion.

Sadly many service people are caught abusing drugs, they are rarely reported upon.

tinytemper66 · 26/09/2018 18:29

I said the same thing when I heard it on the news on Radio 2.
Didn't even name the others!

scaryteacher · 26/09/2018 18:56

It’s fucking rife in the Armed Forces, So are the spot drug tests, and it is still an instant dismissal for the RN afaik. Dh had a random test and had to redo it as his sample was 'suspiciously pale Sir'. He was bricking it, even though he knew that he had only taken his prescription meds, which the RN docs prescribed.