They reached timidly, each took a stick, and they held them down at their sides and did not look at them. But they looked at each other, and their mouth corners smiled rigidly with embarrassment.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 15. Two young migrant boys are embarrassed that diner waitress Mae has sold them two penny sticks of peppermint for one penny. They feel a loss of dignity because of her good-intentioned act of kindness and charity.