OCEANSIDE, Calif. — A woman with a foul mouth, fat wallet and dislike for men bought $7,200 worth of clothing for more than 50 women at a discount store.
Claudia Smith, 66, showed up at the Everything a Deal store in Oceanside on Tuesday night and bought $2,200 worth of clothing for the customers in the store.
The manager said when Smith first came in, she told customers to buy whatever they wanted. They grabbed everything they could get their hands on in the store where nothing sells for more than $9.99. “They were greedy,” she said.
Smith lived in San Felipe, Mexico, for several years and said she wanted to buy things for poor Mexican women.
She was evasive when asked about her finances but did say she had invested well and recently came into some money from the sale of her late mother’s home.
Word of the woman’s largesse spread through the neighborhood where she lives and where the store is located.
On Wednesday, hundreds of women showed up at the store, many waiting all day until Smith arrived again at 4 p.m.
After her $5,000 check cleared, the store allowed 50 women to spend $100 each.
Some customers blushed at the profanity Smith used to criticize men and dispense nonsensical advice, but many hugged Smith as they left the store.
“This is a blessing that wasn’t asked for,” said Rosa Zamora, 27, of Vista, a single mother of two.
“I’m happy she can do this,” said Karen Leon, 24, another mother of two from Vista. “I’ve never seen this. It’s never happened to me.”
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