How to combine segments with circles in Illustrator?

Question

I tried to create a shape with two cicles at the extremes and two segments between them. I selected all the shapes and then in the pathfinder window I choose the option "unite" but the final result left me with the two circles only! Is there an alternative way to create a shape with these elements? And why is this happening? Is it because the segments are not part of a closed path?

I thank you very much in advance, have a nice day :)

Answer 1

Line segments don't have an area, so when you use unite, there's technically nothing to unite. As a work around, use a very thin rectangle instead of a line.