Janny the Snob?

There is a possibility that I am cool. Chuck Klosterman argues that cereal commercials teaches kids that elitism is the same thing as being cool. By that logic, for the first time in my life, I am part of the "in crowd".

For the first time in my teaching career, not only do I have several coworkers my own age, I have a lot in common with them. There are 5 of us that range in age from 28 to 32 that all teach high school. We started by going out to lunch together on professional development days or supper when we had parent-teacher interviews. We normally congregate in one teacher's classroom on Friday mornings for a "staff "meeting" (weeks more often than that). It has gotten to the point where if one of us cannot be found, they know exactly where to look.

A couple weeks ago, one of my friends invited me to her house for a "staff" Christmas party. A official party had not been planned by the social committee so she decided to throw her one. I was told to keep the party a secret since not everyone on staff would be invited. I didn't even have to ask her who was invited or not, I already knew.

There is two ways I can look at things:
1) You can't fault us for being friends and spending time outside of work. We get along with everyone but you can't expect us to be friends with everyone.
2) The above argument sounds exactly like someone trying to make excuses for being part of a clique. It isn't like we make an effort to include other people.