What was going on when I was born?

There are no supermarkets here. There are no car dealerships - the last one closed at the end of April. There are no movie theaters. On Broadway, where once a mile-long shopping district flourished, plate-glass windows have given way to plywood sheeting. More than half of the people of Camden are on some form of public assistance - welfare or Social Security. The unemployment office is never empty. There are no jobs. Most people have given up looking for work. Yet City Hall staggers forward, awaiting a new tenant who will run a city on the brink of bankruptcy. ''We have a $40 million operating budget and we are $5 million in the hole,'' said Camden's Director of Community Development, William P. Hankowsky. ''The state requires you must pay off your deficits, and the voters turned down a tax increase.''

Sales of television sets and other video equipment are expected to set records this year and surpass forecasts made as recently as six months ago, according to industry executives interviewed here today at the start of the summer consumer electronics show. ''Look at the television set,'' said Ray Gates, executive vice president of the Panasonic Company. ''I don't think anyone thought color television sales would be as good as they are.'' At the beginning of the year, most manufacturers had estimated that TV sales this year would be about the same as last year's total of 10.16-million sets, second only to the 10.24 million sets sold in 1978.

The beaches were jammed this afternoon, as they always are here on Sunday, when the Lebanese try to enjoy the sun and the Mediterranean, two of the few gifts they have left. Then the rockets hit. Within seconds, the beach front in West Beirut emptied in pandemonium, people fleeing into the streets in their bathing suits. Cars careered the wrong way on one-way streets, horns blaring. Gunfire crackled as the gunmen of half a dozen factions fired pistols and Kalashnikov rifles in the air.

The Air Force missile officer accused of making unauthorized visits to the Soviet Embassy here gave Soviet diplomats information about Titan missiles that was sensitive enough to require the Air Force to change targets, codes and other systems, according to military officials. Those officials said that Second Lieut. Christopher M. Cooke, who has been confined at McConnell Air Force Base, near Wichita, Kan., told them under interrogation that he passed the sensitive material to Soviet aides on the second of three visits he made to the embassy from December 1980 to May 1981. Lieutenant Cooke's motives were not entirely clear, the officials said, and they believe that he has held back in discussing his reasons with Air Force investigators. But they said the officer's primary motive, from what he had told investigators so far, was to establish his credentials with Soviet diplomats in an effort to gain their trust and to obtain information from them.

Cathy Reynolds gained the first victory in her three years on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour today, and it was a family achievement. Miss Reynolds, a 23-year-old native of Springfield, Mo., is married to her caddie, Dana Derouaux. She overcame the pressure applied by such experienced golfers as JoAnne Carner and Sally Little, shooting a closing par 72 on the difficult Stanwich Club course and winning the $125,000 Golden Lights tournament by two shots from Betsy King. Miss Reynolds, who also had to overcome breathing difficulties from a lingering case of bronchitis, finished with a three-under 285 and earned the first prize of $18,750. It was the second straight week that a tour player had achieved her first victory; the other was Kathy Hite, who won the Corning (N.Y.) Classic.

''The street will serve as a constant reminder of the persecution of men and women like Anatoly Shcharansky.

In 1973 the New York Legislature enacted a law requiring automobile insurance companies to return their ''excess profits'' to policyholders. But so far drivers have not received any refunds, and a dispute has arisen between consumer representatives and insurance companies over whether they should. A spokesman for the New York State Insurance Department said the Superintendent of Insurance would probably issue a ruling in the matter within two months. The law was designed primarily to give policyholders the benefits of any unexpected savings from no-fault insurance and from any drop in claims as a result of reduced driving in the energy crisis.

Banks have hardly been bashful about trumpeting the frequent changes in their prime lending rates, traditionally considered the lowest rate available to the most creditworthy corporations. But ask a banker what that rate represents today and he suddenly becomes tongue-tied, ducking behind definitions scarcely aimed at shedding light on the issue. At the Irving Trust Company, for example, a spokesman explains that ''The prime rate is the rate of interest publicly announced from time to time by the bank as a standard for rates of interest to business loans.'' The Chase Manhattan Bank sounds a similar note with its explanation: ''The prime commercial lending rate is the rate we announce publicly from time to time out of our headquarters.''

In an article Saturday on Harley Lippman, a freelance writer, Joshua Muravchik was incorrectly identified.

For Nicaragua, the price of revo- lution continues to grow A2 King leads Spaniards in honoring the military A3 Disillusionment Threatens Bonn Coalition A3 Strike by French-speaking Cana- dians draws little attention A4 Around the World A5 Syrians stage a war alert A6 Jerusalem issue resurfaces as Sadat-Begin meeting nears A6 Liberal South African paper dis- misses its editor A9 Pope, in message, calls Cardinal Wyszynski "keystone of unity" A10 Government/Politics Queens District Attorney seeks changes in immunity law B2 New Coalition drops Koch, en- dorses Barbaro for Mayor B3 General Reminder on a Mississippi main street A11 Confusing warnings on radio-TV called peril to evacuation plans A11 Around the Nation A12 Rate of homicides among Cubans in Florida found above average A12 Four sons of a New Jersey doctor die in a fire at home B2 Obituaries Barbara Ward, British economist B6 SportsMonday Auto Racing: Villeneuve wins Monaco Grand Prix C11 Baseball: Yankees lose to In- dians, 7-2, as May falters again C1 Mets beat Cubs, 3-2 C1 Valentine joins Mets and meets new teammates C5 Phillies' Carlton continues mas- tery over Cardinals C5 Boxing: Braxton knocks out Ross- man in 7th round C3 Columns: Red Smith on last week's truculence C3 Dave Anderson on Gene Mauch's new dugout C4 Features: Sports World Specials C2 Football: Pitt may have edge on Penn State in recruiting C9 Golf: Miss Reynolds wins for first time on golf tour C1 Stadler wins Kemper open by 6 strokes on 68-270 C7 Horse Racing: John Campo drives for the Triple Crown C1 Outdoors: A new wave of enthu- siasm for canoes and kayaks C11 Statistics C10 Tennis: Miss Rinaldi gains French quarterfinals C3 Arts/Entertainment "The Panther," a "madrigal opera," at La Mama Annex C12 Westenburg's Musica Sacra per- forms Bach B-minor Mass C12 Three new playwrights bow with one-act works C13 Galway is soloist in Romantic pro- gram by Philharmonic C14 Debuts add to fun of Ballet Thea- ter "Sonnambula" C14 "Outside Over There," a mysteri- ous new Sendak book, reviewed C16 An Irwin Shaw package is on pub- lic TV tonight C17 Cable-TV channel for two-way games is announced C17 Style Relationships: Quelling sibling quarrels B5 Campus dating: What going coed has done B5 The legal issue of marital rape B5 Features/Notes Notes on People B4 Going Out Guide C14 News Analysis John M. Crewdson on the Reagan plan to control immigration A15 Richard J. Meislin on Albany's transit turnabouts B3 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A16 Educational comeback Italian political scandal A remarkable movement John P. MacKenzie: our debt to a vile rag Letters A16 Flora Lewis: whither France's Communists A17 William Safire: speechwriter needed A17 Richard J. Barnet: Reagan's for- eign policy A17 Rufus E. Miles Jr.: Social Se- curity increase A17

Dairylea Cooperative Inc., one of the New York metropolitan area's largest milk distributors, has agreed to return $1 million to its customers over five years to settle price-fixing charges, Attorney General Robert Abrams announced yesterday. In several months the company, based in Pearl River, N.Y., will begin to print coupons worth 10 cents or more on the sides of quart and half-gallon cartons of milk, Mr. Abrams said. He announced the settlement on the WCBS-TV ''Newsmakers'' program and elaborated on it in a telephone interview afterward.

International The Government of Bangladesh said it had crushed a rebellion by army officers in the port city of Chittagong. The Government radio said that Maj. Gen. Manzur Ahmed, who was responsible for the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman, had fled from the Chittagong district. The radio said the two-day rebellion by General Manzur and other officers had been ''vanquished completely.'' (Page A1, Column 6.) Rocket fire in Beirut shattered a lazy day on a sunny beach, killing at least eight people and wounding about 60. While it was yet another of the many assaults the Lebanese capital has come to expect, it was perhaps the worst incident in a violent weekend in which 33 people were reported killed. The city is settling into a permanent state of anarchic war. (A1:4-5.)