programming - early starters

Something that has always annoyed me is how some people believe they're the best programmers in the world and everyone else sucks since they have been programming in C since they were 9 or some other shit like that. Some of us are not as fortunate to have the resources and people around us to set us up with stuff like that to learn from such a young age.

I've been programming since I was about 15, starting out in Java because that's what my school offered. And even that is better than a lot of other people get, since I had both an Honors and AP Comp Sci, and the teacher was great with a good curriculum so our whole class ended up getting 5's (i think there was just one 4). The class was in Java, sure, but it was a good introduction to programming, and because of it I'm getting a lot more out of my C courses now in College.

Even still, I've met some people who have been programming since they were 9 or 13 or whatever, in C. It's like "I wrote the ANSI C compiler when I was 9 in ANSI C". It pisses me off to no end. I can still write good code in the languages I know, I should still be smart enough to be able to learn programming and be a good programmer in my life. Just because I haven't been programming since I was 2 doesn't mean I'm screwed.

The problem is, I still tend to measure myself against these people and I feel like I'm playing catch-up all the time, and it makes me worry/stressed. Any thoughts on how to deal with this kind of crap?

On one stormy night, the sky bright with thunder
knock knock at the door - who is that, I ponder
I dash to the gate, open it, I sunder
'tis a filthy snake, at my mat, down under!
I speak carefully, not to make a blunder:

``who be thee, thou spawn of evil?
beast from before medieval
serpent! the tempter primeval!''
-- in my soul a great upheaval
``demon! how come you were tapping?
at my door so gently rapping?
limbless, cursed to move by wrapping!''

The slimy beast hissed, and so before my eyes
I beheld a man - in appearance so wise
I recognised him, now without the disguise
My throat unleashing so desperate cries:

``Infidel! Once a great wizard,
now a slimy tricky lizard
stealing through the flames and blizzard
what be thy business, ex-wizard?''

Thus he spake, the voice bestowed:
``son, you walk the evil road
all what I have you once shown
all what you thanks to me own
now shall within you explode
and have I so forebode:
not through Scheme does point the road
in my mind had always flowed:
FORCED INDENTATION OF CODE''