To clarify what I mean by "having to widen the scope of $response" Something like:

sub createPath {
    my $path = shift;
    my $response = 'n';
    if ($xp->exists($path)) {
        print "Path already exists, overwrite element (N/Y): ";
        $response = <STDIN>;
        chomp($response);
    }
    print $response, "\n";
    unless (lc($response) eq 'y') {
        print "Path creation call will be ignored\n";
        return 0;
    }
    print "Creating node...";
}
[download]

Except even if 'y' is entered it never seems to execute the final print statement. Any guesses?