pretty bad / fire-able offences
Not really. Petty and passive aggressive, sure. But everyone gets their messages in the end and if it's something genuinely important I'm not going to let my grudges get in the way of that. If it's "did you want to get pizza for lunch mate" and I've just heard you making degrading comments about the other receptionist while she's away and I heard you saying we get paid too much (...minimum wage) for sitting on our arses all day then and you've been calling me sweetheart after I've told you several times before that it makes me uncomfortable then that message is getting lost on your desk debris. Or when that same person asks me to check restaurant prices for something he's planning next week then someone else needs me to make a phone call, I'm making that phone call first.
The bookable room is entirely me in the right. Everyone knows to go through me first, but a lot of people just choose to ignore protocol because "it's easier, all she'll do is tick a box". But that box is important because a lot of people need those rooms and need a clear way to check if they're available. If you don't stick to protocol that's your own fault and someone who did is getting the room. It's a casual room, so it's never an important meeting space - more informal chats - so it's never going to disrupt something key.
And most people are polite as hell when asking for directions so I'll help as best I can in turn, and even if you're not polite and just say the minimum you need you'll still get my full effort in help. Rudeness from visitors has happened maybe twice in the two years I've been working there and what help I give is still workable - it would just be far more detailed and useful if they'd been like the other 99.9% of the population and at least managed to get through a question without insulting me.
I took the thread title as last resort I need to vent in a way that won't be detectable type scenarios, because that's what they are. It's not like I do this all day every day, I just work with one or two people who occasionally need bringing down a peg so very occasionally I will pull something like that.
Most of the time I'm great at my job, but it's a minimum wage gig in a field I have no interest in while I'm finishing my degree. I think most of them are just happy I turn up and have a good phone voice.