beggars, panhandlers and me, oh my

I wonder what kind of money beggars in downtown Berkeley receive. I am wondering, in particular, about the regulars. I don't think the regulars in my neighborhood are homeless. I think there are a couple beggars in my neighborhood who beg as their hobby, it is how they hang out.

There is one woman who begs throughout the day most days near the intersection of Kittredge and Shattuck, which is where the downtown public library is.  I am curious: why has she chosen this intersection?  She moves from bench to bench and I don't know where she is when she isn't at this intersection but I think this is her begging corner.

Once I got on a bus, in another part of Berkeley, and she was already seated on the bus, near the front. She asked every single person that got on the bus and then passed her "Can you spare some change?"  I was startled. For some reason, I thought asking every single person that passes was limited to the street. It seems more invasive to do this on the bus. Esp. this woman, who has a shrill, whining voice that is comparable to listening to cats fighting in your back ally in the middle of the night. Meow, shriek, whine. She was whining and shrieking just as loudly on the bus, in the exact same tone. She never changes what she says, except gender. "Mister, can you spare some change?" or "Miss, can you spare some change?"

When she first appeared -- she was not here when I first moved here -- she asked me each time I passed. I cross her intersection several times every day so I pass her a lot. Now she just hits me once a day.  I have never given her money and I never will. I am absolutely sure she is not homeless. On the bus, she had a purse and a destination and she was coming from somewhere. Since her 'work' is begging at Kittredge and Shattuck and she was coming from somewhere and going somewhere,