The new rawdogging? Workers are barebacking on their way to the office and fellow commuters are furious

Is doing absolutely nothing the hot new trend among Gen Z workers?The “rawdogging” phenomenon has apparently gone underground, with young subway-riding professionals raising eyebrows over an bizarre new behavior where they stare at their fellow commuters instead of perusing their phones — an alleged form of rebellion against return-to-office policies.Curiously dubbed “barebacking,” the NSFW-sounding practice involves forgoing all tech and either gazing into space or — even worse — making repeated, awkward eye contact with other passengers like some kind of subterranean serial killer, Fortune reported.Podcaster Curtis Morton, who coined the term, recently slammed straphangers who engage in the questionable practice in a TikTok video with 100,000 views.“You’ve commuted enough times,” the Brit, who cohosts the “Behind The Screens” podcast, ranted in the clip.

“Why are you sitting there without a phone, without a book, just looking at me, looking at what’s going on? Just do something!”Barebacking, which experts feel has been on the rise with commuters returning to the subway post-pandemic, is essentially the terrestrial equivalent of rawdogging — another baffling Gen Z behavior.That popular pastime involves abstaining from in-flight entertainment, including movies and movies, as well as avoiding necessities such as food, water and sleep — like an ascetic in the sky.Much like “masterdating” or “girl dinners,” this performative-sounding practice might seem like another case of zoomers “inventing” fads that already existed — in this case, riding the subway before the rise of smartphones.However, experts believe that the uptick in “barebacking” could be, among other things, a way of hitting back at demanding bosses in wake of the pandemic as working from home once again becomes something of a luxury.“Employees are expected to ‘clock in’ once they arrive at the office, not when they board the train,” Amanda Augu...