Almost from the very start, this was clearly going to be something very different.

The second one was a young woman coming from the courthouse after getting a "no-violence" restraining order against the father of her young son.

A little later, it was a woman headed home from work, too big to get the seat belt around her so she just rode, holding onto the dashboard.

Then there were three guys from India headed to Northwestern Mutual for a meeting about setting up some kind of office somewhere in their home country.

Welcome to the world of Uber driving.

I am finishing the second week of my career as an Uber driver – a task undertaken at the urging of my daughters – and it’s been an experience unlike any other.

Uber should not be so easy to join and operate, but it is. To join, you need to prove you own your car and that you have insurance. They also conduct a background check that takes a few days. Then you are off and running with a car, a cap and a smartphone. The cap is optional.

You work when you want to work. Your hours are entirely your own.

On every trip, the Uber lady (think Siri on an iPhone) gives you directions to pick up your passenger and directions to where you are going. There is also a map that shows your car and where the rider is located. You push one button to start your trip and one to complete the trip.

The statistics are simple and valuable: how many trips you’ve taken, how much you made on each trip, how far it was, the busiest times. Then they send you an email highlighting what the best times are expected to be in Milwaukee and what the big events are. They also send you information on what the best times are for Friday and Saturday nights.

Over two weeks, I’ve kept track of gas used, and the money I take home comes out to about $19 an hour. Uber keeps 25 percent of each trip, and since they are in almost 400 cities worldwide, they're doing pretty good. I don’t count depreciation because I lease my car, so the wage is pretty good. Some people also tip, even though that runs counter to the Uber philosophy of no cash. Each week, Uber deposits my earnings right into my bank account.

But it’s the people, not the money, who make being an Uber driver such a fascinating experience.

My second passenger was that young woman who had just come from court. She spent the 15-minute ride on the phone, talking about the no-violence restraining order, how her boyfriend was threatening her and how she was looking for a new place to stay where he couldn’t find her. She had no restraint when it came to letting me see into this part of her life. I felt terrible for her.

I picked up one guy and then his daughter, who was a student at a local college and drove them to their home in Waukesha County. He quizzed his daughter on her schoolwork and whether she had her homework done. It was like sitting in on a kitchen conversation.

I’ve driven goldsmiths, consultants, bartenders, salesmen, a translator for deaf people, a couple of nurses, patients on their way to hospitals, a natural gas sales manager and an oil company executive. I’ve driven students who Uber to and from school every day and who have parents who put the trip on their credit cards. I drove a finger-style guitar player who was one of the top players at the wonderful program at UWM. I drove a middle-aged lady who said she worked at a hotel and did karaoke four or five nights a week. I drove a guy flying back to Seattle who worked for a company that made all the french fries for McDonald's and Burger King.

And I’ve driven Saturday nights into Sunday mornings. Bar time. Water Street. And, holy cow, some of these people have been seriously over-served. But I’ve got to give them credit for taking my car and not driving their own car. I had one young couple making out in the back seat while I drove them from Downtown to Wauwatosa. It was so feverish I wanted to drop them at a hotel.

I drove four young people who were heading out on a Saturday night, and they couldn’t agree which bar they wanted to start their evening with. Finally they left it up to me and I picked Flannery’s.

Some people climb into the front seat; some get in back. There is apparently no rhyme or reason for that decision. I guess I’d say more women sit in front and more men sit in back, but it’s close.

The coolest thing about all of this is that it proves, once again, that people like to talk about themselves. I’m a good conversationalist and all I have to do is ask a question or two and almost all my passengers were off and running. Some answer my questions in detail; others use it as a springboard to talk about their lives.

And maybe it’s my gray hair, but I had one young guy who wanted my advice on whether he should buy a car or keep Ubering. He told me where he works, how much he makes, what his living expenses were and what he liked to do for fun.

I told him to keep Ubering, and he seemed just as satisfied as I am.