further social incompetence...

It's no secret that I'm socially awkward. Before I started my job and knew no one at my company other than my bosses, and then only from interviews, I didn't know whether the workplace would prove a fountain of friendship or not. It turned out that there are a number of 20-something single women in my office. The problem is that, while some of them work on the same publications I do, none of them are on the editorial side. Not a one. Mostly being production/art people, they've sort of inadvertantly formed their own clique. They all sit at a long table in the lunchroom while eating and watching Passions and giving a running commentary on what's going on. They all seem to be like nice people, but they're sort of intimidating. They have invited (and I've gone) me on a couple of outings. I would like to get to know them better, but I think I feel like I'd be butting in. So now, I look like a loner at work, sort of, and I can't figure out a non-awkward way to become more involved. Because even if this distance is part of the system, it doesn't have to be. I would like work to be a source of friends...people I can go out and hang out with if the mood strikes.