I think you just had a bad experience starting off.
You need to get yourself Scott Meyers Effective C++ books. I started on C++ in anger in 1999, my team lead made me sit and read Effective C++ and More Effective C++ before I was allowed to check in ANY code.
Most of his advice is on the lines of "Don't use this feature, but if you must, keep this in mind"
If you follow his advice you'll write good or "Modern" C++.
He has a book on STL now too, but that I haven't read.
