It came down to both of us agreeing: if you need the benefits of C, use C, not C++; [...]


Actually, i'd posit that if you need the benefits of C, use C++ as "a better C than C". Its stronger typing, better use of primitive typing (a char is a char, not a dwarf int; a float is a float, not a dwarf double; the bool type, etc.) make it a stronger candidate for C-type stuff. It's detractors never mention that possibility.