Women With Phone Problems

Sorry for the delayed output recently. New job is going well, which means I'm very busy. Another week or two and I hope to return to more frequent blog posts.

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So, what's the deal with women and voice mail?

Women whom I phone socially seem to have problems using phones and voice mail. Specifically, they can't seem to retrieve messages and/or return calls.

I have lost track of the number of times over the years that I have left multiple voice mails for women and not gotten called back. When I ask (in person) weeks or even a month later if they got my voice mail, the answer is invariably, "No".

Typically: 15 years ago, I met "Ann" at a shabbos dinner hosted by a mutual friend. After shabbos, the host called me and said "Ann thought you were very nice and said I could give you her number if you wanted it".

So I called Ann. No answer, left a voice mail. After a week without a call back, I called again. Again, no answer. Again, I left a voice mail. Never heard back from her. Five months later, I bump into the host of the shabbos dinner who said that Ann had recently asked why I never called her.

Go figure. This woman was a brilliant engineer, no kidding. And she couldn't use a phone and voice mail properly.

This has happened MANY times over the years.

In the last 12 months alone, three women have also failed to return my calls after I left multiple messages for each, separated by at least a week between each message. I was eventually able to make contact in-person with all three. I asked all three if they had gotten my (multiple) messages. No for all three.

All of these women who can't seem to use voice mail and telephones in general are professionals. All responsible, successful. I bet they dare not fail to return calls for work. So why the technological challenge in their social lives?

Is this a manifestation of The Rules that make men chase and make women "unavailable"? Or do women put their technological skills in stand-by mode after 5pm?

Opinions, please?