Yeah, that can happen at a lot of stores. Glad you came here.
Any good, polycarbonate shooting glasses or safety glasses will serve you well. You can spend a fortune on specialized, prescription shooting glasses, but very few people need to do that.
If you don't wear eyeglasses, I mean, if you either have good eyes or you wear contacts, then it's easy. ANY shooting glasses or safety glasses that meet normal standards will be fine. That's ANSI Z81-point-something. Just ask for safety glasses or shooting glasses. Clear is OK, or use the tint that you like.
I buy Beretta shooting glasses at the hardware store (they have a gun counter) that used to be $8.99 a pair; they've gone up to $11.99 a pair now, but I use them all the time. I wear them because they happen to fit my face very well. Higher priced glasses cost more for one of two reasons:
1) optical quality
2) brand name
I have a pair of Oakleys that were given to me. This pair is very dark, so they're great if I want to shoot when there's snow on the ground on a bright, sunny day. Otherwise, any of them are fine. Check Wal-Mart—if you hate Wal-Mart, you don't have to buy any there, but you can see perfectly good glasses, cheap.
Hearing protection: I just buy earmuffs with the biggest decibel number. I think that I usually pay 20 or 25 bucks a pair. I like wearing earmuffs and earplugs at the same time when I'm firing .357 revolvers, or firing M1 rifles on a firing line at a match with other shooters. Some folks just wear plugs. Earplugs are extremely cheap. Always wear something; again, good hearing protection need not be expensive.
There are also electronic earmuffs, and some knowledgeable people speak very highly of them. I haven't used them, but the Search function (found at the top of every THR page) might give you some good information if you're interested.
It's possible that the guys at your gun store are being jerks. News Flash for them: eye and ear protection are available for sale all over the place.
In a nutshell:
1) any proper, ANSI-rated safety glasses;
2) hearing protection with a high dB number
If you already wear glasses, they'll probably be OK, but you can add whatever makes you feel comfortable until you develop a routine of your own.