Is Courtesy Outdated?

I recently gave a graduate class presentation on the Roman concept of decorum-- one of the concepts that I believe contributed to the eventual concept of courtesy.  As part of my discussion, I listed the many synonyms that decorum has (some of which are listed on the previous blog entry).  My professor posed the question of what our modern term for decorum would be: most of the synonyms for decorum sound quite old-fashioned.
While I tend to drop some archaic-sounding language into everyday speech-- thrice, whilst, befits, passers-by, etc-- it is uncommon to overhear shoppers or restaurant-goers discussing propriety, bearing, comportment, or etiquette (though one may perhaps overhear a conversation about "netiquette").  While I won't go so far as to say that courtesy doesn't exist in a contemporary context, I will argue that the terms associated with the idea seem outdated.  
Does courtesy have a place in our society beyond how to address a wedding invitation or when it's acceptable to wear white shoes?  When I hear the term "etiquette," I hear my mother's warnings against wearing white after labor day or black shoes in the daytime after Easter.  These things seem silly to me, and I think that true etiquette should be something more meaningful.  Perhaps its more meaningful form comes from a phrase that we do hear more frequently, and one which I will be exploring more fully in my next post: common courtesy.