Short and Succinct

I was out running some errands today and had occasion to have to cross the railroad in north Wichita. I got to the stop light on 29st Street Eastbound at Broadway and the railroad cross arms come down. Long train coming, it looks much like the one pictured, and it’s moving about 20 miles an hour.
Smugly, I make a right turn on to Broadway and head South down to 21st Street. By the time I get within about ¼ mile of that intersection, the train clears and the arms go up at 21st Street. I head on to the intersection and manage to make a left turn from Broadway onto 21st Street just as the light turns yellow. I no sooner take my first look onto 21st Street eastbound when I see the lights on and the arms about half way down again. Mindful that the police sometimes ride the rails or sit so they can see, I decide not to gun it across the tracks with the arms on their way down. I slide to a stop just before the arm comes down in front of me. As I peer to the south, I see the lights of another engine coming rather slowly, but deliberately.
Waiting what seemed like an interminable amount of time, the train finally gets to the intersection…another mile and a half long train speeds by at about 15 miles an hour, not more than a mile or so behind the last one that came through. I would have been better off waiting at 29th Street to cross!
OK, what’s the lesson here? Is it “Smugness comes back to haunt you?” What about “Those who don’t want to wait end up waiting longer?” OK, how about “Be sure your attempts to beat the system will find you out…and get back at you.” Could it have been, “If you hadn’t run that yellow light to make the turn, you could have gone down to 13th Street.” Or maybe if I’m super-spiritual, it could be, “You didn’t listen to the Spirit tell you to just wait at 29th Street.”
Would someone just let me know what I need to learn so I don’t have to go through this exercise yet again? I’m getting old enough that I may not have time for the extended lessons and need the short and succinct.