I have figured out two rules, as I am living a life as a programmer:

• Rule number 1: As a programmer, you can never stop learning.
• Rule number 2: Learning is not that hard.

Based on those two rules, I gave you two suggestions:

• Learn Perl, as perl is great. It absolutely worthes your effort. Not much effort is required to have a sip of it. If you like it, drink it; if not, put the drink on the table and walk away. Well, I don't think you will walk away, as Perl is addict.
• Not to learn just Perl. Perl is not the right tool for everything. Learn several major languages, and become expert. Now you have a better chance to find the right tool(s) for most of your tasks.