A look at the high cost of attending the Atlanta Games:

We plopped down a six-pack of beer, domestic, and a small container of pasta salad on the liquor store counter in mid-town Atlanta and then stood back.

We were two reporters, weary from our pre-Olympic wanderings, looking to quench a thirst and maybe nibble on some noodles.

At what cost? The women at the cash register, obviously in training, rang up the total.

“Twenty-one fifty six,” she said.

That was twenty one as in U.S. dollars.

It was an innocent mistake, we figured, only some pre-Olympic cash register jitters.

Then the owner came over. It was no mistake. The price of the beer alone was $15, or $2.50 per bottle. When we started to pull our merchandise off the counter, the owner jumped in with his next best offer, a take-it-or-leave-it proposal.

He could give us the beer for $10.50. Let’s call it his super-saver special.

We took it. We were thirsty. We were on expense accounts.

Before we left, the owner whispered into his checker’s ear: “Do this for the next two or three days, then go back to the old price.”

Let the games begin.