Building relationships isn't like what they say in the movies. Couples don’t simply form by two people locking eyes at a mainstream coffee shop or accidentally bumping into each other in a high school hallway. Nowadays couples form after “hooking up” at a party and deciding to send a casual Snapchat to each other the week after. This generation’s perception of creating a relationship with someone has become immature and childish. Millennials have turned romance into a complex system of “playing games” and “toying with people’s heart strings.”

Don’t get me wrong, some people enjoy this. Some people loathe commitment and would rather have a casual “fling” with someone than try to form a strong bond with them. People hook up at bars or parties because of the simple notion that it is “easy” and there are “no strings attached.” However, this article is not for those kinds of people. This article is for the people like me.

The people that just want a guy or a girl to buy them pineapples.

In one of my favorite Broadway musicals, Cabaret, an older man shows his affection for an older woman by simply visiting her everyday and bringing her fruit that she would enjoy. Once he felt like their relationship was very special to him, he bought her what was considered to be “so costly” and “so luxurious," which was a large pineapple. Once she blushed after receiving this thoughtful gift, he proceeded to say that he would “fill her entire room with pineapples” if he could. This simple expression of affection captivates me. Although he bought her something that seemed so mundane like a pineapple, it was an act that proved to her that he has a special place for her in his heart.

Although I am a young college student who loves having fun, I don’t want a casual fling. I don’t want someone who is going to text me that he likes me, but then ignore me the next time I see him at the party. I don’t want a guy to get jealous when he sees me with someone else, but fails to outwardly express that he cares.

I want a guy who is straightforward and honest. I want a guy who will make the effort to get my attention. I want a guy who shows that he wants to get to know me instead of Snapchatting me a winky face with the abbreviation, “hmu”(which stands for “hit me up”). I want a guy to not only text me that he likes me but to show it. I want that guy who will not only laugh at all my jokes but will laugh at the way I laugh at them. I want that guy who will not only go to one of my volleyball games, but go to every single one. I want a guy who will not only buy me a pineapple but will want to fill my entire room with them.

I know that not every guy I meet will be willing to make an effort. I know that commitment can be difficult and is not for everyone. I am not making these claims out of desperation or because I need a man. I most definately "don’t need no man” but I want one. I know it may not happen now, a week from now, or maybe even years from now, but I want someone who will put all the games away. I want to stop making connections with people who fail to put the games aside and show me how they feel. Hopefully, one day, I will make that connection that sticks. That connection that is the basis for a long-lasting bond. That connection that stems from that Cabaret pineapple. And last time I checked, they were on sale at Target. $1.99 for a nice, fresh, and faithful pineapple. Now, that’s a good deal.