sub getDirs() {

    sub getAns() {
        my ($dirlist) = @_; # new
        print qq(Enter a valid directory: );
        chomp(my $ans = <STDIN>);
        if ($ans ne "") {
            if ($ans =~ m/foo/g) {
                push(@$dirlist, $ans); # note the @$dirlist
                &getAns;
            } else {
                print qq(That is not a valid directory!\n);
                &getAns;
                }
            } else {
                return @$dirlist; # note the @$dirlist
            }
        }

    my @dirlist;
    my @dirs = getAns(\@dirlist); # note the \@dirlist
    
    if (@dirs) {
        return @dirs;
    } else {
        die qq(No directories have been entered!\n);
    }

}