This is the time of season that inspires the best, and unfortunately exposes the worst in our fellow man.

Recent stories about people paying off bills for others in store checkout lines provided some feel-good moments. Other charitable souls, who chose to remain anonymous, made their acts of giving on a larger scale.In Cumberland County last week, an anonymous donor paid off $50,000 worth of layaway accounts at a Walmart located just west of the state capitol. According to the store manager, the man who only described himself as a successful businessman showed up at the Mechanicsburg store before noon Monday, which was the deadline to pay off layaways. He used a cashier's check to pay off the balances on about 100 accounts the store was about to cancel and refund the partial payments.When store associates called customers to give them the good news, some thought it was a joke.In Bellingham, Massachusetts, a female benefactor made a similar kind gesture at a Toys R Us store by paying $20,000 to cover 150 layaway accounts.Then there are the negative characters. Police in Fayette County were looking for someone who broke into a woman's home and stole Christmas presents intended for the mother's young children.The 19-year-old woman had reportedly left her Belle Vernon home for a short time and when she returned, the gifts for her 1-year-old daughter and 6-year-old stepson were missing, along with some jewelry and holiday ornaments.Another Christmas theft out in Bloomington, Minnesota, occurred on a much larger scale but had a positive ending. Those responsible went on a smash-and-grab spree in a restaurant parking lot, stealing a laptop and a bag containing registration papers for children to receive a gift through the Toys for Tots campaign.After the Twin Cities Toys for Tots coordinator provided a master list containing the names and addresses of the families who signed up, volunteers in the community spent time and money to replace, stuff, relabel and mail the stolen envelopes at a cost of about $500. Thus, families were able to pick up their toys at the city police department on schedule.Finally, some new parents in Cleveland who were taking a flight with their baby had the concerns of fellow passengers in mind when they distributed goody bags to everyone on the plane. The bags contained Junior Mints, Rolos, earplugs and a note warning the passengers that it was baby Madeline's first flight."Written" in the first person, Madeline promised to try to be on her best behavior, but admitted she may get scared from the new experience. Her note explained that the ear plugs were "in case my first public serenade isn't as enjoyable to you as it is to my mom and dad."By JIM ZBICKtneditor@tnonline.com