I'm 52 and I have absolutely no problem buying cards at the big retail stores. As for pack searchers, my wife is harder on them than I am. We saw a searcher at our local Walmart and she said "look at that, he's pack searching the baseball cards" loud enough to have people turn and look at him. He put down his haul and did a litle "hauling" himself. Right out the door.
I collect 1969 Mets memorabilia and 1960 Topps baseball, nothing else.
My 1969 Mets PC Bucket:
http://s214.photobucket.com/user/d3a3l3e3/library/1969%20NY%20Mets%20PC?sort=6&page=1