Reread my post. I wasn't polite. I didn't say, "thank you". She didn't say, "please". Her job required her to ask me for a piece of private information, that I wasn't going to give. So what if she works for a living. She probably goes to high school with my daughter. My story was discussed at dinner with my children. Both of which have customer service jobs. They got it.
I am really surprised at the number (few, but too many) people that don't have the gumption to deny personal information to a business that would put them at risk of identity theft, even if it made a kid uncomfortable for a minute. That discomfort was meant to be a message to Dick's.
This is how kids grow up. They get real jobs, they deal with real problems. This girl can or will be able to vote one day. She needs real world situations. She certainly doesn't get the perspective that I gave her from her teachers and from TV. It is completely hideous that I had to give my birth date to buy a gun sling. Given Dick's policies, she probably thinks that anything gun related is evil.
I will continue to protect my private information and my 2nd and 4th Amendment rights, even if it hurts people's feelings. That is better than letting things go too far and having to physically defend our freedoms and liberties. The crux of political correctness is making people silent as their rights are stolen.
Speaking for myself, I am mightily sick of it. For the last few years my policy has been that if they won't take "no" for an answer I politely say "good day", leave the merchandise on the counter (and once or twice even piled high in the cart) and walk out. The only exceptions I grant are in instances where they are required by law to collect the info, such as alcohol or (idiotically) cold meds.