My Saturday night began like most others. After making plans last minute, the norm for me — a few quick taps on my phone were all I needed to get me where I needed to be. I entered my current location, then the address where I wanted to go, clicked “confirm” and I was on my way. Precisely four minutes later, as promised, my Uber driver was waiting for me outside my front door in his 2015 grey Chevy Malibu.

I opened the car door and asked, “are you Steve?” He was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. In one hand was a coffee and the other was the wheel.

“Yup,” he replied. “And are you Oliver?”

“Indeed I am.” So I hopped in, expecting nothing more than a fast trip to my destination to meet up with my friends. Then he began to talk…

After some small initial pleasantries, he opened up to me about his experience serving in the United States Army. He started by telling me about his time in Afghanistan. He recounted chilling stories about being at the front lines and how glad he was to have served our country. Then he turned to me (only for a moment because he was driving) and asked, “Have you ever thought about joining the Army?”

He continued before I had a chance to answer, giving me his pitch as to why I should enlist the military. “Right now in your life, you may think you are on the right track and are disciplined,” he said, “but until you join the Army you won’t know the meaning of discipline.”

“Did you know eight percent of our military is actually foreign born?” he asked. “Does that make any sense to you?” It truly didn’t.

That’s when I realized it had never even occurred to me to join the Army. I began to ponder the issues involved. What were my beliefs about our country and its place in the world? What did I think my responsibilities were as a U.S. citizen? Was I afraid?

It was a lot to consider in a six minute car ride on Saturday night with a complete stranger. It made me realize the most interesting conversations can come from the most unlikely sources, even Ubers. It turns out that Uber rides have become a reliable place for me to ponder important issues and questions.

One of my favorite Uber rides began with a simple question and answer. “Hey Oliver, how are you?” John asked.

“I’m good.” I replied. “How about you?”

“I’m ecstatic.”

From there, this casual Uber drive turned into a conversation regarding life, the genuineness of the people in the Midwest, and my driver’s recent life decision to move across the country.

He had just relocated to Chicago from San Francisco and began to tell me about the transition. He noted how people in Chicago were much more genuine than those of San Francisco. “People in San Francisco get in the Uber and immediately put in earbuds, and even if they had a conversation with me, it just felt fake,” John said. “But people here, you for example, get in and actually have a real conversation and I can tell you’re nice people.”

That last part stuck with me. I started to think of all the people I know who don’t even greet their Uber drivers when they get in. Why would they do that? Doesn’t it feel awkward to be silent?

But I guess to most people it’s more awkward to have a conversation with their Uber drivers than to not say anything at all. I admit, it is awkward to start a conversation with a complete stranger, knowing that in 10 minutes you will never see them again. But maybe that should encourage you to have a conversation with them. No matter what you say, in 10 minutes it won’t matter. If you don’t talk to them, you might miss out on a very interesting conversation.

You will most likely go your entire life never crossing paths with this person again, so what’s the harm in talking to them. Every once in a while you might have an eye-opening discussion with them, sometimes they might give you life advice, and sometimes they might have a different perspective to offer on events.