iPhone Read Receipts

So I am slightly annoyed because a few things from today have gone wrong. Let's first of all mention my frustration about the read receipts on iPhones. I know this is coming totally out of the blue, but I am telling you they are so frustrating. I keep my read receipts on because I like people to know if I have read the message yet or not, and if I have read the message and intentionally not responded. But I guess that kind of information really comes back to bit me in the butt because I absolutely hate it when I ask a question and then someone will immediately read it and not respond until later. This happened with one of my guy friends, he read the message at 8:05 pm and didn't respond until 1:26 am. Is that necessary? Really?