What was going on when I was born?

The line begins forming at 9:30 A.M., and sometimes stretches down the block, past the movie theater and around the corner. But it is frigid outside on a recent Friday, and shortly before 10 A.M. only a handful of people are huddling in the dingy corridor near the freight elevators. The telephone rings. ''O.K., Al,'' says the voice on the other end, ''let's get those kids up here.'' It is open viewing day at Henri Bendel, the chic women's specialty store at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue. Every Friday morning, the buyers at Bendel's open their doors to hopeful young - and not so young - designers. Established designers and manufacturers are able to see the buyers by appointment during the week. The custom of open viewing was int roduced b y Jean Rosenberg, now the merchandise director, when she came to Be ndel's 25 years ago, andhas since been adopted by buyers at some othe r New York stores, such as Bergdorf Goodman's. But Bendel's, traditio nally on the leading edge of fashion, observes it more faithfully than most. '' The broader our layer of special merchandise that is at no pla ce else, the better Bendel's is for women to shop at,'' said Gerald ine Stutz, the store's president. 'Cautious Purchases'

Officials in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut believe President Reagan's ''new federalism'' proposals hold potentially devastating consequences for their states and for New York City, even though the Reagan Administration insists that there would be no winners or losers. According to Brad T. Johnson, the director of the New York State office in Washington, even if the arithmetic shows that a state would gain by the President's plan for the Federal Government to assume Medicaid costs in return for the states taking over the food-stamp program and Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the gain would be subtracted from each state's share of the $28 billion trust fund proposed by Mr. Reagan. The trust fund is designed to provide the states with money to help pay for a total of 43 programs - such as urban mass transit and urban development -that the states would assume, starting in 1984. According to the White House, the fund would be divided between the states according to their share from the Federal Government in the fiscal years 1979 to 1981, less whatever financial gain a state had made on the Medicaid exchange.

The winning political coalition that President Reagan put together in Congress last year is threatened by widespread uneasiness among Republicans as well as Democrats over the huge bud get deficits contemplated by the Administration. The President sought in his State of the Union Message to put the main focus on his proposals for shifting Federal programs to the states. But many of his Congressional supporters have indicated that the deficit remains their top priority. And they say they are not satisfied with Administration projections of deficits approaching $100 billion.

The nation's merchandise trade deficit narrowed in December to $1.59 billion, the smallest since July, mostly because the recession reduced imports more sharply than exports, the Commerce Department said today. But for all of 1981, the deficit widened to $39.7 billion, the third-largest on record, despite a big reduction in oil imports. David Lund, a Commerce Department economist, said of the December deficit, ''The underlying thing was weakness in the economy, and that's still operating.''

''Marvelous, O.K., police.'' - Gen. James L. Dozier, to Italian rescuers. (A8:5.)

An article in Metropolitan Report on Wednesday omitted the name of a Midwood High School student in Brooklyn who was chosen as a finalist in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. She is Reena B. Gordon.

The Federal Communications Commission today invalidated the first attempt by a communications satellite operator to auction transmission channels to the highest bidder. But the commission, in another vote, left open the possibility that a modified auction procedure might be approved in the future. In a 7-to-0 decision, the F.C.C. rejected a plan by RCA American Communications Inc. to assign seven of the 24 channels on its newest satellite to companies that bid $90.1 million at an auction last November.

Two gunmen assassinated the Turkish consul general in Los Angeles this morning as he sat alone in his automobile at a busy intersection in the Westwood section. An organization called the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide said it was responsible for the slaying of the consul general, Kemal Arikan. The organization is one of several Armenian terrorist groups that have said they want to avenge a massacre of Armenians by Turkey in 1915. Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation found the getaway car at a house in Pasadena, 20 miles away, and detained four people inside the house for questioning. All four were later released.

The Reagan Administration said today that the United States ''must be prepared to increase'' aid to El Salvador after a guerrilla attack Wednesday on the country's biggest air base in which ''several'' aircraft were destroyed or damaged. At the same time, President Reagan certified to Congress that the military-civilian junta in El Salvador was making a ''concerted'' effort to protect human rights. The certification was required by the Foreign Assistance Act, approved last month, in order for $25 million in military aid and $40 million in economic aid to be sent to El Salvador. The junta, the President said, has achieved ''substantial control'' over its security forces, which have been accused of large-scale killings, and it is making ''continuing progress,'' he said, in carrying out political and economic reforms.

Japan detailed 67 areas in which it will liberalize trade policy to open its domestic markets to foreign goods. The changes, in response to pressures from the U.S. and Europe, will affect such products as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, motor vehicles, electrical appliances and sporting goods. Administration reaction was cautiously optimistic. (Page A1.) The Economy The index of leading indicators rose 0.6 percent in December. Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige said the rise suggested the economy might soon start to climb out of recession. The Labor Department said productivity rose 1 percent in 1981, the first gain since 1977, but declined at a record annual rate of 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter. (D1.)

International Brig.Gen. James Dozier was freed 42 days after his abduction from his home in Italy by left-wing terrorists. A raid by Italian police on an apartment in Padua led to the safe release of the American officer. According to the American ambassador, Maxwell Rabb, General Dozier was unhurt and in ''excellent health.'' (Page A1, Column 6.) America's gratitude to Italy for rescuing General Dozier was expressed by President Reagan. Interrupting a luncheon honoring President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President applauded the courage of the captured general, saying, ''His country and our allies can be very proud of this gallant man.'' (A8:4.)

Acting at the District Attorney's request, a Rockland County judge today dismissed the indictment against Eve Rosahn that had accused her of being involved in the Brink's robbery and murders Oct. 20. The District Attorney, Kenneth Gribetz, told the court that, based on samples of Miss Rosahn's handwriting and ''other information only recently provided by the defense,'' he had concluded that Miss Rosahn was not the person who had rented a van used by the Brink's holdup gang. Miss Rosahn, a 30-year-old Brooklyn resident and self-styled ''freedom fighter and political activist,'' called the action ''a tremendous victory over the Government's current campaign of repression and terror.'' Reading from a handwritten statement in the courthouse lobby after the brief court hearing, she sent ''strongest greetings of solidarity to the captured combatants,'' a reference to the five men and two women who are in jails on murder and robbery charges. Miss Rosahn has been free on bail awaiting trial on the formal charge of criminal facilitation.