Good for you.. Keep at it and don't become discouraged by people blasting you. ANd dont' become discouraged, as most of us have, when at a point it seems like you've been stuck benching, curling, squating the same wieght, etc. Just spice up your workouts, take a week off or change some things.. Good luck.
And dont become one or listen to one of those guys who always brag about how much they can bench. You'll see many guys in the gym who come in, walk around, brag, talk, walk over to the flat bench, put on this incredible amount of weight, have their friend spot them, and lift the bar one or two times making all these grunting noises.
Then they walk around some more, talk some more, hang out at the juice bar, maybe come back do another few reps, then go home.
Many of us have done that when we were younger. Impressing people with our bench press. But in reality, get a strong workout in for yourself, dont' become one of those guys I mentioned above.