1. An ordinary occupation that a citizen has a right to pursue under the Privileges and Immunities Clause. [Cases: Constitutional Law 207(2). C.J.S. Constitutional Law §§ 667, 670.]
2. A commercial enterprise that offers services to the general public, with a legal duty to serve anyone who requests the services. • For example, an innkeeper or a common carrier engages in a common calling.
“It was only in a very few cases indeed that a person was under a legal obligation to enter into a contract; virtually the only example of such an obligation in fact was the person exercising a ‘common calling’ such as the innkeeper and the common carrier who were (subject to certain safeguards) legally bound to contract with any member of the public who required their services.” P.S. Atiyah, An Introduction to the Law of Contract 8 (3d ed. 1981).
