Bad kicker...maybe not so bad

We all know kickers can be the difference between best and second best hands. BUT, with all the garbage flops that happen your bad kicker can make an open ended straight along with top pair. So even though I have been out kicked by even one rank many times, I have taken down big pots with having a bad kicker that has made a straight or two pair. How important in "today's" game is the kicker?