An alternative:
use Class::LazyLoad [ qw/ DBI connect / ];
my $dbh = DBI->connect( @your_params_here );
# Right now, the $dbh hasn't actually connected or done DBI-ish things
+.
$dbh->do_whatever(). # Now, it does.
Update: This won't do the reconnect, but you're also not tying a tied variable. :-)
Being right, does not endow the right to be rude; politeness costs nothing.
Being unknowing, is not the same as being stupid.
Expressing a contrary opinion, whether to the individual or the group, is more often a sign of deeper thought than of cantankerous belligerence.
Do not mistake your goals as the only goals; your opinion as the only opinion; your confidence as correctness. Saying you know better is not the same as explaining you know better.