Are there other names for soaking? Yes, I've heard it called soaking, floating, marinating.

Some people refer to it as docking, but I don't think that's what that really means.

Hi, I'm Madison Malone Kircher. And I'm Rachel Hampton, and you're listening to I see why am I.

In case you missed it, Slate's podcast about internet culture.

Okay, so Rachel, I was laying in bed the other night, as one does, watching TikToks.

As one does.

Yes, exactly.

You know me.

And I had a question pop into my head.

I was watching a multi-part saga from a woman who had like had a hair

salon experience gone wrong. I don't know. She wanted a root smudge. They just could not give her

the root smudge she wanted. It was like a really long story time. I feel for her. I don't know

what a root smudge is, but any kind of hair salon trauma, I feel deeply.

But is this about hair?

No, it actually has nothing to do with hair.

I also don't know what a root smudge is.

Oh, great.

During this multiport saga, though, she is using TikTok's green screen feature, and she's talking in front of a background that I'm sure you have seen.

It's like an alleyway full of balconies.

It looks kind of European. The sky is blue. The buildings are white with like terracotta trim.

Yes, it's giving me very mamamia. It's giving me strut like you mean it. It's giving me

cheetah girls. Yeah. I proceeded to send myself a middle of the night email in all caps with a

...