What was going on when I was born?

Marion Craft, tending her African violets, and her husband, William, tinkering with his patio barbecue, seem happy in their retirement. But here in Lebanon, in rural eastern Connecticut, the Crafts are outlaws. They are summer people who stayed for the winter. ''We were served a cease-and-desist order on New Year's Eve - I cried all day long,'' said Mrs. Craft, 60 years old, as she and Mr. Craft, 74, shared iced tea flavored with mint leaves cut from their garden. ''I can't believe this is happening to us.''

Saudi Arabia went ahead with a decision to buy more than $4 billion worth of British fighter planes after President Reagan assured King Fahd that the United States would not object to the sale, Saudi sources said today. They said the Saudi King was concerned that the United States, Saudi Arabia's principal arms supplier, not be angered at his country's decision. The Saudis had decided not to wait any longer for 40 to 48 additional American F-15 fighters that had been promised them by Mr. Reagan last December, but whose sale was repeatedly delayed because of Israeli-backed opposition in Congress. The White House was informed during the summer, Saudi sources said, that the Saudis were considering buying two squadrons of 48 Tornado fighter planes and 30 Hawk trainers from Britain because of Washington's inability to proceed with the F-15 sale. After Mr. Reagan indicated in a letter to King Fahd that he sympathized with the Saudi predicament, the negotiations with Britain were concluded, the Saudi sources said.

For the American steel industry, imports remain a worry, but they are not the dominant issue they were a year ago when the President's program to control foreign shipments was announced. Today, the main problem is closer to home: The mills are caught up in a fierce battle among themselves for market share and are cutting each other up on prices. ''The complaint isn't about imports anymore; it's about domestic price-cutting,'' said Charles A. Bradford, steel analyst at Merrill Lynch. On the surface, there are signs of progress. After years of trauma, the major mills are trim and relatively efficient. The results of their effort to lower costs have been described as ''superb'' and ''amazing'' by analysts. The old complacent management cultures are gone, replaced by a competitive breed. Some companies have been turning a profit even with the rampant price-cutting.

A United States military crew was detained at gunpoint by Soviet troops in East Germany for about nine hours last weekend, the Pentagon said today. Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, who disclosed the incident on the CBS News program ''Face the Nation,'' said it was the ''third or fourth'' such episode recently. In March, an Army major, Arthur D. Nicholson Jr., was shot and killed by a Soviet sentry while on a reconnaissance mission in East Germany.

The usually unflappable senior vice president of a major New York bank sat in his Westchester home a few weeks ago watching television excerpts from a long-awaited speech by South Africa's President, P. W. Botha. Like many other people, the banker had expected Mr. Botha to be conciliatory and indicate that his Government would change its racial policies. But the banker was stunned - more by what he saw as Mr. Botha's pugnacious tone than by the words themselves. The banker turned to his wife and said, ''There's financial trouble ahead.'' Indeed there was. As weeks went on, more and more banks, fearful that racial tension would undermine the South African economy, refused to lend new money or renew maturing loans to any South African borrower. It caused a plunge in the value of the rand, South Africa's currency, and eventually forced the Pretoria Government earlier this month to take the drastic step of forbidding South African companies to repay billions of dollars of principal on their foreign debt for the rest of the year.

With prayers for Solidarity's ideals and with accolades for its leaders, Roman Catholic clerics greeted more than 50,000 industrial workers who came here on a pilgrimage today. ''Hang in there, as we are hanging in,'' said Henryk Cardinal Gulbinowicz after he celebrated mass at the shrine of the Black Madonna, Poland's most revered icon. Below, on a large open field in front of the outdoor altar, came cheers and two-fingered Solidarity salutes from the tens of thousands who came from all parts of Poland to this third annual pilgrimage of workers who identify with the outlawed union, many of them carrying forbidden placards and wearing banned insignia. By the time the pilgrims began to drift homeward, Cardinal Gulbinowicz, who was named Poland's third cardinal earlier this year by Pope John Paul II, had joined Lech Walesa, the Solidarity founder, in sending a telegram to the Pope in the name of Polish workers. He also issued an invitation to next year's pilgrimage, asking workers to tell their colleagues to mark the date on their calendars.

Two high-level Salvadoran Government officials flew to Mexico this afternoon to meet Salvadoran rebels who may be holding the daughter of President Jose Napoleon Duarte, according to a foreign diplomat here and a Salvadoran source aware of the negotiations. The reported departure of the two Salvadoran officials to meet rebel representatives is the first indication that the guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front may be responsible for kidnapping Mr. Duarte's eldest daughter, Ines Guadalupe Duarte Duran, last week. But the rebels have not publicly taken responsibility for the kidnapping, and the possibility remains that a small splinter group may have seized Mrs. Duarte Duran. No Government Comment Salvadoran Government officials refused to comment tonight on the reports of contacts with the rebels. It appears that Government officials believe either that the official rebel front is holding Mrs. Duarte Duran or that the front is in a position to influence a rebel splinter group that may have seized her.

On Friday night of the recent Labor Day weekend, Laurie Gillespie and Rick Avjean, customer service managers for People Express Airlines, faced three planeloads of irate passengers who had been waiting in the North Terminal of Newark International Airport for hours. Five deep, the customers surrounded the counter. Several demanded to know if their flights to Portland, Me., delayed by a storm, would ever take off. Two were crying. One woman had lost two children. Only the customer service managers behind the counters kept the disorder from disintegrating into chaos. For them, crowd control has become an art form. And that is crucial for the low-fare airline whose profit margin relies on full planes and tight schedules that have led to flight delays and crowds, even when the weather is good.

The Economy The economy appears to be gathering steam, corporate economists say, but not at the robust rate predicted by the Reagan Administration. The latest batch of statistics has led most economists to rule out a recession anytime soon. [Page D1.]

It was a dazzling afternoon of records, near-records and realized dreams today for the Jets, who found in the Buffalo Bills the perfect solution for their malaise. The Jets produced a 42-3 victory, made more significant by Freeman McNeil's rushing 192 yards for a club record and by the return of the three holdouts whose continued absence might have wrecked the team. Instead, the Jets looked, simply, awesome, against a team that now has won only 2 of its last 18 games under Coach Kay Stephenson. Did anyone remember that only a week ago, in their season's opener, the Jets were embarrassed in a 31-0 routing by the Los Angeles Raiders? Today, the Jets did the embarrassing and equaled a 19-year-old club record with a 39-point margin of victory. 2 Holdouts Rejoin Offense There was a ripple effect throughout the team, especially on the offense, with the return to right tackle of Marvin Powell. Reggie McElroy returned to left tackle, entering the game in the second quarter and playing all the second half. And the third holdout, the wide receiver Al Toon, had a debut as a professional that will linger in memory.

It had some soap-opera touches, but the Mets aren't quibbling about style these days: Danny Heep, the perennial understudy, replaced the hurting Darryl Strawberry at curtain time, hit a three-run home run in the first inning and played the starring role as the Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 6-2. The Mets thereby salvaged a split of their four games in Olympic Stadium, but they conceded that it had been a rough weekend in their stretch run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League's East. The victory keeps the Mets half a game ahead of the Cardinals, who also won today. ''I guess you could say we had a letdown,'' said Manager Dave Johnson. ''We played great ball against against the Dodgers in Los Angeles and against the Cardinals at home. But to come up here and get a split isn't too shabby.''

International Saudi Arabia decided to buy more than $4 billion worth of British fighter aircraft after President Reagan assured King Fahd that the United States would not object, Saudi sources said. The Saudis had decided not to wait any longer for 40 to 48 additional American F-15's that had been promised them by Mr. Reagan in December, but whose sale was repeatedly delayed by Israeli-backed opposition in Congress. [Page A1, Column 4.] South Africa's credit crisis since apartheid became an international issue has shaken bankers abroad who ask how the country's economy could have deteriorated so quickly before they had a chance to get their money out. A picture of what went wrong has been provided by interviews with concerned bankers. [A1:2.]