‘Dialed with my toes’: Bill Gates recalls high school prom rejection

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates not too long ago shared an anecdote from his high school years, revealing how he as soon as struggled with courting and was turned down for prom. In his new memoir ‘Source Code,’ revealed earlier this month, the billionaire mirrored on asking some of the in style women in his senior class, Vicki Weeks, to the dance—solely to be rejected.
In an interview with People, Gates admitted he knew it was a “long shot” and that he was “very inept” at asking individuals out. The state of affairs took an uncommon flip when he repeatedly tried to name Weeks however saved encountering a busy sign.
“I dialed over and over, and at one point added the challenge of dialing the phone with my foot,” Gates wrote in his memoir.
When he lastly reached her, his nerves obtained the higher of him. “I told her I’d been trying her all night but couldn’t get through and had even dialed with my toes, perhaps not the best way to make the case for myself as a dashing date,” he recalled.
Weeks in the end declined, asking for time to see if one other particular person would invite her—a proposal she later accepted. Gates, nevertheless, nonetheless attended prom with one other classmate, whom he described as a “very cool junior.”
Looking again, Gates holds no grudges. “She couldn’t have been kinder, but she made it clear she saw me as a friend,” he stated.
Speaking to People, he defined his reasoning for mentioning the toe-dialing element, saying: “I hesitated, and then I tried to use a little bit of humor.”
Although his prom try failed, the 2 ultimately grew to become buddies. Gates additionally famous that after he grew to become one of many world’s most profitable businessmen, Weeks usually heard jokes about rejecting him. “Poor Vicki would be given a hard time about that for decades thereafter,” he stated.