Selichos - What For?

Over the past week and half, I've come to the conclusion that the purpose Selichos serve for me is essentially a ruse to ensure I get to Shacharis on time, for a week or two. I'm not sufficiently awake or familiar with the text to have a meaningful prayer experience through Selichos, and honestly I'm generally not quite on time to Selichos either. But I'm usually in shul early enough to catch a decent chunk of it, enough to appease my conscience and guarantee that I can get my tefillin on before Shacharis starts.