Sounds more like you're describing Smalltalk 72 (http://worrydream.com/EarlyHistoryOfSmalltalk/#p12) than Smalltalk 80. I've written a fair bit of Smalltalk code, and I can't remember seeing something like what you're describing here. It would certainly be possible, but I don't think it's an accurate description of how most Smalltalk code works.