Hobson's Choice

Q: When is a choice not a "choice"? 

A: When there are no alternatives, no options, no choices available except for "Do, or do not do." In other words, you have Hobson's choice. Hobson's way... or the highway on foot. 

The eponymous Hobson was a British businessman who operated out of an inn where St. Catherine's College, Cambridge now stands. He delivered mail between London and Cambridge along the Old North Road and kept livery of about forty horses. When there was a lull in the mail, he would rent horses to gentlemen and scholars at the university.

Men who rent horses are --or were in the seventeenth century-- usually in a hurry, and not overly considerate of other people's cattle. The horses which were faster (or looked like they might be a good one that could run) would have been most in demand if those wishing to rent a horse had a choice, but acceding to such demands would have meant that the best horses were overworked if not beaten and spurred.

So, Hobson ruled that every would-be renter took the horse closest to the stable door, which was the most rested horse. It was a hard and fast rule. All customers were treated equally, and so were all Hobson's horses.

All the best,

Rowena Cherry