My friends and I were almost going to take the CTA home from dinner in Chicago on Saturday after seeing how much an Uber would cost us. I’m glad it was cold, and we were wearing heels because that car ride was the most interesting thing that happened that night — scratch that — week.

When I slipped in the passenger seat, I noticed our $70 Uber was sweetened by how handsome the driver was; it made me want to talk to him.

Putting yourself out there is difficult, and I was nervous to try to strike up conversation. With that being said, I think talking to strangers is one of the easiest ways to escape the monotony of everyday life.

“Do you have any, like, crazy Uber stories?” I asked him. Maybe a weak opening question for a journalism major, but it got the job done. He went on to tell me the story of a girl he had once given an Uber ride to who was “maybe the craziest girl he had ever met” and did ketamine in his car.

“Not when I was driving her for Uber,” he assured me. It was another night.

“Wait,” I instantly replied, “This girl was in your car not as a passenger?” like it was the craziest part of what he told me.

“I’ve made a ton of friends driving Ubers,” he said. My mind was blown. I’ve had many compelling conversations with Uber drivers in my day, but the thought of forming a non-transactional relationship with one never crossed my mind.

Instantly, I decided that for the rest of this 45-minute journey, I would chat with my driver enough that he’d want our relationship to progress past this ride. The thought of being able to tell people I got asked out by my Uber driver made me giddy.

I ended up learning a lot about the Uber driver. He went to college in California but was from the Chicago area. He was a petroleum engineer but wanted to move firms — to either New York or Texas. Not only was he handsome, but he was a good conversationalist.

Though I started chatting with the driver because I thought he was cute and wanted to flirt, I was reminded of something I believe to be inherent: every conversation (more than small talk) I’ve had with a stranger teaches me something new about the world or myself.

Did I, in my heart of hearts, really think something magical was going to come out of my conversation with this Uber driver? Not necessarily. Still, I appreciated that he kept looking over at me, grinning more each time. I appreciated that when there was a lull in the conversation, he asked me a question, like he wanted to talk to me as much as I wanted to talk to him.

I haven’t ridden shotgun in a car with a guy enough times for it not to excite me. It’s an image burned in my brain — one of my many romantic fantasies — me sitting in the passenger seat, a disembodied hand of a serious boyfriend resting on my leg.

I guess there was a small chance something really beautiful could’ve come out of this experience, in which case the moral to this story would be to take risks because you might change your life. Like, if I hadn’t decided to strike up a conversation with the driver, I would’ve never found my soulmate.

It’s important to chase novel experiences for the sake of making life more interesting. I don’t think everything needs to amount to something. Sometimes, you chat with an Uber driver for 45 minutes and all you get out of it is an amusing story.

I could hardly contain my excitement when, at the end of the ride, the driver asked for my number. My hands were shaking, and I was grinning like a psycho as I passed him my phone.

Sadly, I have since blocked him after googling him and finding out that he was 27. Made me shudder. I think everything still stands, though. Go forth, be bold, flirt with strangers.

Sylvie Slotkin is a Medill sophomore. She can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.