Question

broken dishes
joe owned a few businesses in penfield, and he was a thoughtful business owner. the windows of his art gallery were made of special glass that protected the art from sun damage. and he bought a new delivery van for his flower shop when the old one kept breaking down, because no one should receive withered flowers.
he was especially proud on the day his restaurant opened. a restaurant was a brand - new venture for joe. hed picked out beautiful plates and glasses. they were costly, but he wanted to give his customers the best dining experience he could.
he was thrilled when the restaurant filled up for lunch, but disheartened when he heard a glass break in the kitchen.
\please be more careful,\ he told the dishwasher.
not much later, a child shattered a plate on the dining room floor. after that, a man waved joe to his table, where he pointed out a chip in the rim of his water glass. it would have to be thrown away.
in the kitchen that night, joe counted the remaining plates and glasses.
\owning this place is going to cost a lot more than i thought,\ he told the chef.
\you know, theres a restaurant supply store in ridgemont. it sells dishes and glassware, and you buy them in bulk, so theyre cheap,\ the chef said.
\good point,\ said joe. \in this business, sooner or later everything breaks.\
that weekend, joe and his chef drove to the store in ridgemont.
the next day, joe watched contentedly as the restaurant filled up again. when a server dropped one of the new plates, joe didnt get upset. a new one was taken from a large box, where there were plenty more replacements at the ready.
which of the following best describes the main theme or lesson of the story?
if you want something to last a longtime, invest in quality.
some things in life are not worth spending a lot of money on.

Explanation:

In the story, Joe initially spends on costly dishes but faces frequent breakage. Later, he switches to buying cheaper, bulk - purchased dishes and becomes less upset about breakage. This shows that for items (like restaurant dishes) that are prone to breaking, spending a lot of money is not worthwhile. The first option about investing in quality doesn't fit as the story shows that for easily breakable items, quality (high - cost) isn't the right investment.

Answer:

Some things in life are not worth spending a lot of money on.