Their behaviour was not only rude, but I also find it immature. What, they can't handle being at a table without all their friends for an hour or two? It kind of reminds me of a seminar I attended while I was in college. (Extracurricular, but relevant to what we were learning in our field of study, and practical/hands on). It wasn't just students, but also people who were already working in our field going for their continuing education credits. So the instructor at one point told us to pair up for a hands-on practice session. Most people just paired up with whomever happened to be sitting near them, so I turned to the nearest person (another student not in my year) and asked if she wanted to pair up, and she said "No, I want to go find my friend" and went running off for her friend somewhere else in the room, leaving me scrambling to find someone else, as everyone else had found a partner within 2 seconds. I don't think I smelled or anything. I thought, good grief, grow up already, expand your horizons a little, this is adults learning a new skill related to their profession, not a bunch of teenagers in high school who have to hang out with their friends.