I would like to address the situation of Robert W. Pickett, the man who was wounded and arrested after allegedly firing shots outside of the White House on Wednesday.

The actions by Mr. Pickett were unacceptable and cannot be tolerated in any way. However, I am afraid that Mr. Pickett is going to be perceived as just some crazed individual with mental problems who needs to be locked away.

But that is too easy and ignores so many details in Mr. Pickett's story. The facts are that Mr. Pickett had no criminal record, that he was unjustly fired from the IRS in the mid-1980s for blowing the whistle on his supervisor and was unable to achieve justice through the court system after numerous attempts.

All of these events culminated in the incident that transpired last week, an attempt to gain attention and clear his name. I am asking for two things: intolerance and compassion.

Without a doubt, Mr. Pickett needs to be punished for his actions, but also, I would ask for people's compassion for Mr. Pickett and his situation.

This can be difficult, to feel both anger and sympathy, but that is what life is about. Filing people, events, and situations into neat little categories is simple, but inaccurate.

There are so many facets of life that you need to recognize in order to come to a complete understanding. So please, avoid black-and-white thinking, and instead, opt for the grays.