When Did Common Courtesy Become Completely Uncommon?

I've been actively in the dating scene for the better part of the past ten years. And it seems to be getting more challenging with each passing year, because people are getting progressively crazier. I live in a place where there is an overabundance of plastic people (both physically and emotionally) who are obsessed with material possessions. Granted, it can be easy to get caught up in the Ferraris, Fendis and filets....but it seems that somewhere along the way, as everyone has been lengthening their ever growing checklists of what they're looking for in a mate, they have forgotten that "shopping" for a boyfriend or girlfriend, or potentially a husband or a wife, is not the same as shopping for the lastest Louboutins at Saks.
Sometimes, in an overzealous shopping spree, we'll return home with more bags than we should have. And when the rush wears off and we come down from that endorphin high, we experience the dreaded buyer's remorse. When this occurs, we can easily jump into our German engineered cars and take our happy little asses back to the mall to return the unwanted items...return the merchandise...get rid of the goods. The acquisition of those material objects gave us our high, they served their purpose, and now we can simply get rid of them, and get our money back. Nothing's lost.
It seems that people have adopted this methodology in the dating game. You meet someone new, they're attractive, you feel the rush, the high, the excitement. You want them. You have a connection, it seems like a good fit. You go on two dates, three dates, twelve dates, you talk repeatedly about having a "Love Ceremony", at which you will pledge your undying love to one another with absolutely no legal ties (should one of you wake up one day and decide to leave...no messy divorce needed...just walk away), and then maybe for one of the pair the high wears off, and suddenly, without warning, you have been returned. Unbeknownst to you, you have suddenly become returned merchandise, an unwanted item, discarded goods.
What the players in the dating game don't seem to realize is that people are not purses. When did it become okay to treat people as inanimate objects? When did it become okay to disappear with no explanation? To simply not call back...ever? I know, I know, the unreturned call or text or email means "he's just not that into you", and you're supposed to just move on. I read the book. I saw the movie. I get it. With men (and, I suppose, women), like buses and trains, another one will come along in a few minutes...so no need to fret about missing the one that just whizzed by. But, that's not the point. I am not at a loss for dates. I could easily be wined and dined by a different common man each night of the week. There is no one man that I am lamenting in this semi-tirade. I guess I'm lamenting the fact that people have seemingly lost respect for themselves, and therefore have no idea how to treat others with respect, or even with common courtesy. People have dropped the courtesy altogether, and have just become common. I need someone a little- no, A LOT, less common.