A Suspicious Surveillance

I have a good imagination and a pretty good sense of intuition about things (I actually predicted the economic shambles we are in about 5 years ago) and so when I went to the store to pick up a couple of packs of cigarettes, I was astounded to find out that now the Pathmark is required to ask for ID from those buying cigarettes (which are under lock and key) but they also must type in your birthday in order to complete the purchase. At first the thought of being ID'd kind of tickled my sense of vanity... then reality set in as there is no possible world where I would pass for the under eighteen crowd. The checkout woman seemed flustered with the system and had a hard time finding my birthdate (even with her glasses on, to which I could relate) and her register would not let the transaction complete. It wasn't until she realized that she kept entering the issue date instead of the birth date did the register settle down and permitted the purchase. Have things gotten so ridiculous that a 52 year old, or a 70 year old person needs to prove they are not a teenager, or is something else going on here? Mmmnnn, my mind was curious, my imagination piqued, and then my anger flared up. I was careful not to upset the clerk any more than she already was and so I kept my sarcastic comments to myself. Perhaps, this is some new form of surveillance, a big brother ploy to track the smokers, collect the data of their habits, and then sell the information. Who would care, you might ask? Well insurance companies would care and could very well put those small print disclaimers on policies canceling any payment for illnesses that could be carcinogen related. Or wouldn't the tobacco companies love that information, so they could send mailed, targeted coupons and rebates to their valued customers, after all if you are buying, wouldn't you buy more in this economy if you got a break? Prospective employers would love to know who the smokers are, so as to put them low on the list of employment candidates, and just think of all the character reference information that could be exposed... "sorry coach, you can't work with kids as we know you are a closet smoker"... you see where I'm going here. Now I can understand the ID law for young people and if I were 20 I wouldn't mind being carded, but a mandated collection of one's personal ID when it is obvious as to one's age in decades is obviously a ridiculous waste of time and money... and at worst a sinister theft of identity.