Been there done that my exwife is older than me like that and the only good that came of that relationship is my son. I could go on and on about how fubar that relationship was but I won't cause thats a chapter in my life that has long since been closed. Now I have a four year rule. Four years in either direction. That way we could have at least gone to different highschools together.

Your observation has some merit and also some dubious aspects. First to expect a reply to an initial inquiry is not tenable as some women receive a thousand responses a day so the correct thing to do if not interested is too simply not respond. Now if the person responds then it is reasonable and correct to then respond and here many choose to initiate a conversation and then stop without indicating the end of a conversation leaving the recipient in limbo. This is rude as its only necessary to say something along the lines of " its time for me to address other things and will get back with you another time say tomorrow nite Thanks"". This allows the person to politely leave and the recipient to know that they dont need to wait for ten to twenty minutes to see if a response is forthcoming In this regard many folks do not extend this courtesy and that is quite rude and not appropriate just as one would not stop a conversation by simply walking away given normal conversation If for a reason a person wants to continue a conversation and its fine to do so for any reason the only requisite is to acknowledge the end so that the other person knows and can move on as well and not wait for a response that is not coming. These common courtesies demonstrate appropriate social skills and a genuine concern for all and allowing for each person to move in and out of mail without rudeness or taking up unnecessary time and expectations too.