[derekp7]

I tried that -- went to Lowes I believe, and asked a hardware guy there if they carried the bits. He then proceeded to treat me as if I was some sort of criminal, informing me that those security screws are there for a reason. I'm sorry, but it is not against any criminal code that I know of to want to fix your own oscillating fan. Of course I see that they have it on their web site, so I should have just brought up that page on my cell phone (or part number) and be done with it.

[mindslight]

The people working at those stores are really just a random smattering of warm bodies to fill a position. It appears you ran into the type of person who wants to play macho man from a limited knowledge set - don't take it personally. Go back the next day and a different person might [know exactly where the bits are, pass you off to someone else in the store, not know what a screwdriver is, or be curious about what you're fixing and recommend a different place you can actually obtain them]. Companies wanted replaceable minimum wage workers and that's what they got.