Clique-ity Clack

At this point, having once survived high school myself and now having survived high school again for almost seven years, teenage cliques rarely bother me anymore. Yes, they are irritating, but so are spring allergies, and both come and go soon enough. Besides, I guess we've all been in some kind of clique at some point.

What I've run upon at school #2, though (and have mentioned before), is an adult clique I pretty much can't abide. Unfortunately, it is made up mostly of English teachers, all of whom I'm on good terms with. But when they are gathered together, something I usually witness while warming my food at lunch, the sum of their parts as gathered in their conversation equals any or all of the following: smarmy, immature, asinine, sneering, juvenile, hateful, politically chauvinistic, (anti)religiously chauvinistic, snobby, puerile, self-consciously chic, hedonistic... well, you get the picture, and see why I tend to delicately extract myself from the lounge rather quickly after my food is warm. I also tend to not sit right next to them during faculty meetings so as to be out of site of the embarassing notes they pass, or blatant talking they do, while the principal is speaking.

So yesterday a couple of my yearbook kids were out asking for teacher volunteers who might help us staff a distribution party after school on the day the books come in. When the girls went in the lounge to ask the gathered Clique, they were apparently dismissed rather rudely and haughtily sent on their way after being told what an awful idea this was. In the meantime, at least 12 other teachers had already pledged to assist and said it was a good idea, or at least worth a try.

What chafes me is that any of these Clique members, if approached one-on-one, would have at least been courteous, even if they declined to help. What is it about the group setting (maybe I should say the group-think setting) that can turn people into such turds?

Adults. Sheesh.