Corn does not typically need to be refrigerated in order for it to be safe to eat. You will want to be aware of the fact that the longer you keep your corn in the refrigerator, the more flavor and vitamins you will lose, so it will not have quite as much nutritional value or taste to it. Corn lasts around one week in the refrigerator and the longer you keep it in there the longer it will last. There are many different varieties of corn, but with most of them you will not need to put them in the fridge in order to make sure they are safe for eating.
By keeping your corn in the refrigerator though, you will ensure that the sugars keep and do not turn to starch. Though you do not need to put your corn in the refrigerator for safety/health reasons, it does keep better in there. Ultimately it is up to you and so you will not need to put it in so that it is safe for you or others to eat after you bring it home. The only way you will know whether or not your corn is good is to simply cook it and take a bite.
Cob corn does not have to be boiled till all flavor is gone. In fact it can be micro waved just long enough to get it a bit hot and it has a much better flavor that being boiled. Even steaming it until it is hot is way better than boiling all the flavor out of it. When we have cob corn I micro wave it for just a minute or two ,then we eat it as is, no need to salt and butter it to give it flavor,as it has a very good sweet flavor all of its own. My dad did this after my mother passed away and I tried it at home when we had cob corn. We will never go back to boiling (or even steaming) it. for one ear ,all it takes to get it warm enough to eat if you like it hot is about a minute. You can eat it raw and it is delicious.