Perl was my first scripting language, and quickly moved to PHP as it's easier for web based development. This was in the late 90's. Now I've moved on to bigger, better languages, but there is a special place in my heart for Perl.
I love Perl because everyone hates it. Perl is now like 1/10th of my income, as I maintain some legacy applications for a few companies that I didn't build. They don't mind when I charge $100/hr (yes I'm aware I could probably charge more) to make changes or tweaks, because other developers just throw their hands up in the air and claim they need new software, which would cost a lot more. I understand there will come a day they will decide they need new software, but if they are happy with the service I provide, I will be the first place they come to get a quote to replace it.
In fact, a couple Perl projects have moved to new systems, some developed by me, and some off the shelf applications. Remember, best tool for the job and all that jazz.
Again, I love Perl. There are thousands of systems utilizing it, and the more people that hate it and refuse to use it means more money for me. :-)
Did I mention I'm not even 30 years old?