#!/usr/bin/perl -w 

use strict;

sub do_this_cool_function {
  my %args = (
        -retire     => "never",
        -pizza     => "cheese",
        -payscale   => 0,
        -beer      => "guiness",
        @_,         # argument pair list goes here
    );

    print "I wanna retire $args{-retire} if my pizza is $args{-pizza}.\n";
}

do_this_cool_function(-retire=>'early', -payscale=>-55.00, -pizza=>'cold', -beer=>'none');