$meaningless=0;
$alternate=0;
while (<FILE>) {
  if (/MEANINGLESS/) {
    $meaningless=1;
    $alternate=0;
  } elsif (/ALTERNATE/) {
    $meaningless=0;
    $alternate=1;
  }
}

##</code><code>##

$meaningless_count=0;
$alternate_count=0;
while (<FILE>) {
  #include flags from above
  if ($meaningless) {
    $meaningless_count++;
  } elsif($alternate) {
    $alternate_count++;
  }
}