I'm in the UK where options as part of job compensation are relatively rare. I joined as a contractor originally so wouldn't have been entitled to them regardless, but also they're a US company and only recently (1 year ago) set up a UK entity (I don't have options in that either) so I wasn't surprised to not get any.

I don't fully understand options, admittedly. I joined because I love their product, and I needed a better paying job than the one I had originally. Plus, the culture was pretty amazing at the time I joined! I left because they didn't pay me enough in the end plus cultural issues :P so I've got a new job paying more with a culture I prefer.