Talk about a time you wish you had handled a workplace situation differently. Looking back, how would handle the situation now?

"During my undergraduate program, I worked part-time as a waitress to pay my way through college. One evening, I was waiting on a very rude, intoxicated customer. The customer was saying some mean things about our staff, and I couldn't help but defend our staff and tell the customer that he was being rude and out of line. He began yelling and walked out of the restaurant, only to come back five minutes later and demand to talk to the manager. While my manager could tell that he was out of line, I had second thoughts about how I handled the situation. I typically avoid confrontation, but my emotions got the best of me that day. I feel like I do a much better job of keeping my emotions in check in situations like this now. Looking back, I should've calmly walked away from the customer and allowed my manager to step in right away like I had been trained to do."

Most people cannot handle every difficult situation with the utmost grace. No matter who you are, there is undoubtedly a work-related situation that makes you cringe a bit when you look back. Answer this question by giving a story-based example of a time you reacted to a scenario in a way that you typically try to avoid. Outline the situation and describe why you reacted the way you did. Focus on the actions that you took to repair the situation and include details about the lesson you learned.